Pyrenacantha kaurabassana

Family: Icacinaceae

What it is like

A climbing shrub. It has several trailing or twining stems. There is a tuberous rootstock. The leaf stalk is 4-6 cm long. The leaves are triangle shaped or 8 sided in outline. They can have 3-5 lobes. The base is heart shaped. The flowers are at the nodes. The male flowers are in 3-4 cm long spikes and the female flowers are in 1-1.5 flattened groups. There are many male flowers and fewer female flowers. The fruit are yellow to orange when ripe.

It is used in medicine.

Where it is found

It is a tropical plant. It grows among rocks and on termite minds. It grows in dry woodland. In Ethiopia it grows between 600-1,300 m above sea level.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, East Africa, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The tubers are chopped, dried, burnt, filtered and evaporated to provide salt. The leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable.

Edible parts

Fruit, ash- salt, tuber, root, vegetable, leaves

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Appel, Dema, Guidi, Mathuma-mbiti, Phagh

Synonyms

Pyrenacantha vitifolia Engl.; Pyrenacantha menyharthii Schinz;