Giant yellow mulberry, Monkeyfruit
Myrianthus arboreus

Family: Urticaceae

What it is like

A medium sized tree. It grows 15-25 m tall. It branches low down. The crown is dense. The leaves are compound with leaflets arranged like fingers on a hand. There are 5-7 leaflets. Leaves are 90 cm long and 60 cm across. They are leathery and are whitish underneath. There can be teeth along the edge. The male and female flowers are separate. The male flowers are in long stalks and are yellow. The female flowers are in small balls. The fruit are large and yellow. They have 4 or 5 sided sections. Fruit can be 20 cm across. Each sections contains a hard oval seed.

There are 7 Myrianthus species. They grow in tropical Africa. It provides food during the hungry period before other new crops are harvested.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows along the edges of rain-forests. It is often near streams and in moist locations. It grows up to 1,200 m altitude but is most common below 300 m.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Congo DR, Congo R, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Ethiopia, Equatorial-Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Southern Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, West Africa

How it is used for food

The ripe fruit have a nice flavoured juice when bitten. They are eaten raw. Young leaves and shoots are eaten in soups. The seeds are eaten after cooking.

It is the most popular indigenous vegetable in some regions. Leaves are sold in local markets. The fruit are popular.

Edible parts

Nuts, seeds, leaves, fruit, juice, vegetable

How it is grown

Plants are grown from seed. Seeds take about 1 month to germinate. Soaking seeds helps more to germinate. Plants can be grown from cuttings and by grafting. Plants can be budded. Plants can be grown from stem cuttings.

Plants from seed can produce fruit in 4-5 years. In some places fruiting is seasonal and in other places it is year round. Leaves can remain fresh for 3-5 days after harvesting. There is a flush of edible leaves during the dry season.

Its other names

Local names

Ade, Agnan, Agnronyemin, Akawa, Akawakawa, Anyankoma, Awaawa, Bigungwa, Bohuma, Bokemu, Bokomu, Bongunguna, Bouma, Ciwele, Dintusi, Dintusu, Djinkoudjin, Engakom, Fofoi, Isakama, Kawakawa, Komu,Konde, Liwisa, Mambonzua, Mbombo, Mbonzo, Mbonzu, Mbuba, Mdewerere, Mfudza, Mfusa, Mfutsa, Mhunsa, Miamia, Miamiase, Mkonde, Mkwayaga, Muntusu, Ndigo, Ngata, Ngatta, NianNtusu, Ofuma, Okoka, Ongo, Ongunguna, Shesisi, Ujuju, Umufe, Unhana

Synonyms

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