Serendipity berry, Guinea potato
Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii

Family: Menispermaceae

What it is like

A creeper or climber. It can be soft or woody. It has tuberous underground stems. These tubers are 2 cm across and white. The stems are hairy. The leaves are alternate. The leaf stalk is 6-15 cm long. The fruit is a red berry. The leaf blade can be entire or have lobes. It is an oval to triangle shape. It is 9-20 cm long and wide. It is spear head or heart shaped at the base. It tapers are the tip. The veins spread like fingers on a hand. The flowering stalks are in the axils and male flower group are 20 cm long while the female flowers are 10 cm long. The flowers are yellow-green and do not have petals. The fruit is fleshy with a stone inside. It is 3.5 cm long. The stalk is 1 cm long. It is yellow-red. The seeds are 1.5-3 cm long.

There are 2 Dioscoreophyllum species. It is a good sweetener for diabetics and has low calories.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows in densely closed forest vegetation. In West Africa it grows between 200-400 m above sea level. In Zimbabwe a variety grows between 1,000-1,200 m above sea level.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Angola, Asia, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Congo DR, Congo R, East Africa, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Southern Africa, Sudan, Togo, West Africa, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The fruit is edible and used to sweeten food. (It contains monellin which is 3,000 times sweeter than sugar). The tubers can be eaten like potato. They are used to thicken soups.

The tubers are occasionally eaten.

Edible parts

Tubers, root, fruit

How it is grown

Plants can be grown from seed or tubers. Seeds need to germinate in the dark. They take about 68 days to germinate. Plants can be grown from stem cuttings.

The fruit can be stored. It will keep for several weeks at room temperature.

Its other names

Local names

Inaolo-aesiale, Bii, Ito-igbin, Kisombi, Kisombi-ngolongolo, Minbagem Ngbi, Shonga-oliki, Utobili

Synonyms

Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii var. lobatum (C. H. Wright) Troupin; Dioscoreophyllum jollyanum Pierre ex Diels; Dioscoreophyllum klaineanum Pierre ex Diels; Dioscoreophyllum lobatum (C. H. Wright) Diels; Dioscoreophyllum strigosum Engl.; Rhophalandria cumminsii Stapf.; Rhophalandra lobatum C. H. Wright;