Mbola, Grys Appel
Parinari curatellifolia

Family: Chrysobalanaceae

What it is like

Commonly found in tropical Africa, Parinari curatellifolia or commonly known as Mbola or Mobola Plum is an evergreen tree growing about 22m high and 20m across characterized by its mushroom-shaped crown. The branches are heavy and may droop or grow erect. The bole is twisted and can be up to 40cm in diameter. Mbola is used medicinally for toothaches, pneumonia, fever, fractures, wounds, sores, and cuts. The ovoid, yellow fruits have delicious flesh that is somehow comparable to the taste of strawberry. It can be eaten raw, cooked, or processed into juice or jam. The seeds are often roasted, boiled, or grounded into powder. Tannins from the bark are used as a dye in making baskets. Seed oil is used in paint, varnish, soap, etc. Twigs are used as chew sticks. The wood is heavy, durable, hard, and highly resistant to fire but difficult to work. It is used for making furniture, poles, dugout canoes, and mortars. It is also used for fuel and charcoal.

Parinari curatellifolia is an evergreen Tree growing to 15 m (49ft) by 15 m (49ft) at a slow rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10 and is frost tender. The flowers are pollinated by Bees. Suitable for: medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist or wet soil and can tolerate drought.

Height (m): 15

Where it is found

Characteristic of wooded grassland with a high water-table and poor drainage. Deciduous woodland; scattered in upland grassland, often persisting in secondary bushland and cultivated land, sea level to 2,100 metres.

Tropical Africa - Senegal to Kenya, south to northern SW. Africa, Botswana and the Transvaal.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Namibia; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Togo; Burundi; Central African Republic; Cameroon; Congo; Rwanda; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Chad; Sudan; South Sudan; Kenya; Tanzania, the United Republic of; Uganda; Angola; Malawi; Mozambique; Zambia; Zimbabwe; South Africa; Swaziland; Madagascar; Gambia; Benin; Burkina Faso; Ghana; Guinea-Bissau; Guinea; Mali; Nigeria; Niger, Africa, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Ghana, Guinée, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Southern Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

How it is used

Food

Rating: 4

Fruit - raw or cooked. It has a dry but delicious flesh. A strawberry-like flavour. Somewhat astringent, it is one of the best wild fruits of the area. It has a pleasant taste when it has been stored for a few days until it is thoroughly ripe. The fruits can be pounded with water and the liquid obtained thickened with flour to make a gruel known as 'phala la maula'. A soft drink is prepared by peeling ripe fruits and soaking them in warm water. A nice jam can be made from the fruit. The russet-yellow, ovoid fruit is 3 - 5cm in diameter. It has a high content of protein and vitamin C. The seeds make an excellent substitute for almonds. Often roasted. They can be pounded and used in making soup. The seeds contain about 40% oil (70% in the kernels). It is extracted and used for cooking. The seeds are dried, roasted, crushed, boiled in water, left to cool and the oil skimmed off.

Oil: Oil

Seed: includes nuts, cereals, peas and beans.

Drink: not including plant saps, tea or coffee substitutes.

Medicine

Rating: 2

The root is highly valued for its medicinal properties. An infusion of the roots is used to treat toothache. A hot fomentation of the bark is used in the treatment of pneumonia. A leaf decoction is either drunk or used in a bath as a remedy for fevers. The crushed or pulped leaves are used in a dressing for fractures or dislocations, and for wounds, sores and cuts.

Febrifuge: Reduces fevers.

Mouthwash: Treats problems such as mouth ulcers.

Skin: Plants used in miscellaneous treatments for the skin.

Vitamin C: Plants good for their vitamin C content

Other

Rating: 3

Agroforestry Uses: An important tree for bee forage. Other Uses The bark contains tannins. It is used as a dye in basket making. The seeds contain around 38% oil. It is used in making paint, varnish, soap etc. The twigs are used as chew sticks to keep teeth and gums clean and healthy. The pale-brown to yellow-red wood is hard, durable and heavy, but is high in silica making it somewhat difficult to saw and plane. It is strongly fire resistant. A locally important wood, it is very suitable for fine woodwork, building and furniture making, and is also used for poles, dugout canoes and mortars. The wood is used for fuel and makes a good charcoal.

Charcoal: Used for fuel, drawing, deodorant, filter, fertilizer etc.

Fire retardant: Plants that do not easily burn and can be used in barrier plantings to limit the spread of forest fires.

Fuel: Usually wood, plant materials that have been mentioned as being a good fuel.

Furniture: A few miscellaneous uses that do not fit easily into other headings.

Oil: Vegetable oils have many uses, as lubricants, lighting, soap and paint making, waterproofing etc. This does not include the edible oils unless they are also mentioned as having other uses.

Paint: Plants used directly as a paint. Does not include oil plants and dyes that can be used as ingredients in paints.

Soap making: Plants used as an ingredient in making soaps. Does not include the essential oils, dyes and oils that are also used in making soap.

Tannin: An astringent substance obtaied from plants, it is used medicinally, as a dye and mordant, stabilizer in pesticide etc.

Teeth: Plants used to clean and care for the teeth.

Varnish: Plants that can be used as a varnish without any special treatment. Does not include varnishes made from oils etc.

Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.

Industrial Crop: Oil: Materials, chemicals and energy include bioplastics, biomass, glycerin, soaps, lubricants, paints, biodiesel. Oilseed crop types.

Management: Standard: Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.

Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.

Staple Crop: Oil: (0-15 percent protein, 16+ percent oil). Some of these are consumed whole while others are exclusively pressed for oil. Annuals include canola, poppyseed, maize, cottonseed, sunflower, peanut. Perennials include high-oil fruits, seeds, and nuts, such as olive, coconut, avocado, oil palm, shea, pecan, and macadamia. Some perennial oil crops are consumed whole as fruits and nuts, while others are exclusively pressed for oil (and some are used fresh and for oil).

Industrial Crop: Oil: Materials, chemicals and energy include bioplastics, biomass, glycerin, soaps, lubricants, paints, biodiesel. Oilseed crop types.

Management: Standard: Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.

Attracts Wildlife: Plants noted for attracting wildlife

Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.

Coppice: A traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down.

Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.

How it is grown

A plant of the tropical and subtropical savannah, growing at elevations of 900 - 1,500 metres in areas with a pronounced dry season. It grows best in areas where the mean annual temperature falls within the range 14 - 30°c, but can tolerate 10 - 36°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 400 - 1,000mm, tolerating 100 - 2,700mm. Prefers a deep soil in a sunny position. Grows best in light soils. Often found on light yellowish-brown to reddish-yellow, gritty, sandy clay loams and red to dark red friable clays with lateritic horizon. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 7, but tolerates 5 - 7.5. It can tolerate small concentrations of copper in the soil. Dislikes cold winds. Trees can be coppiced. Because of its resistance to fire it features prominently in fire-maintained wooded grassland, especially in upland areas on the former site of montane forest.

Propagating it: Seed - it remains viable in normal storage for at least 4 years. The seeds should be sown in river sand in flat seed trays. Press the seeds down until they are level with the soil surface and cover with a thin layer of sand. Germination is very poor and prolonged, commencing after about 5 weeks. Seedlings should be transplanted in the 3-leaf stage. Be careful when transplanting the seedlings, the taproot is easily damaged. Plant out when about 30cm tall. Root suckers.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Slow

Soil: Medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Moist, wet

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Mbola, Grys Appel, Sand Apple, Hissing Tree, Angili, Bosapple, Cork tree, Grys apple, Hacha, Hissing tree, Kele, Mah'ulu, Mampara-djom-ae, Maula, Mbula, Mbulwa, Mbura, Mmola, Mpembu, Msavula, Msawula, Mubuni, Muchakata, Muhacha, Muisha, Mula, Munazi, Mupunda, Mupundu, Mushacata, Mutopio, Mutubi, Muvhula, Muwula, N'tupiu, Naji, Ntja, Omoraa, Tela, Tubi, Tupi, Umkhuna, Umunazi, amabuye, boom-grysappel, boomgrysappel, cork tree, ghutha, grysappel, hacha, hissing tree, mah'ulu, maura (fruits), mbola, mibula, mmola, mobola, mobola plum, mobola-plum, mobola-pruim, mubula, mucha, muchache, muchakata, muhacha, musa, mushacata, mutaburu, mutopio, mutubi, muura, muvhula, n'ana, n'tupiu, n'ghanni, naghanni, naxani, nj'gh'n', nonsa, nsa, ntja, ol'matakuroi, omoraa, ongoro, sand apple, sandapple, tela, tha, tjaweru, tubi, tupi, umnkuna, usa, usha.

Synonyms