Transvaal kooboo-berry
Mystroxylon aethiopicum

Family: Celastraceae

What it is like

An evergreen tree. It has several stems and grows 12 m tall. The crown is spreading. The young bark is smooth and grey but it becomes rough. The young branches are flattened. The leaves are dark green. They are simple and arranged in spirals. The flowers are in sprays with about 20 flowers. The fruit is fleshy with a stone inside. It is about 1 cm long and has a sweet edible pulp.

Where it is found

It is a tropical plant. It grows in the mountain forest in West Africa. It is widespread over tropical Africa from sea level to 2,000 m altitude. It can tolerate drought. It can grow in arid places.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Central Africa, Comoros, Congo, East Africa, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinée, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Southern Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The bark is used to make a tea infusion. The fruit are used as a dessert fruit.

The fruit are occasionally eaten.

Edible parts

Fruit, leaves - tea, bark - drink

How it is grown

The plant is grown from seeds. The flesh needs to removed from the seed. The seeds are planted in sand in a warm moist spot. Seeds germinate in 2-3 weeks.

It is fairly fast growing.

Its other names

Local names

Ingukutane, Lishasha, Mudangwa, Mtunda kunguru, Olgdonga, Petchua, Sehlulamanya, Umboyi

Synonyms

Cassine aethiopica Thunb.; Cassine schlechteri (Loes.) Davison; Cassine sphaerophylla (Eckl. & Zeyh.) Kuntze; Cassine velutinum (Loes. ex Harv.) Davison; Elaeodendron aethiopicum (Thunb.) Oliv.; Mystroxylon schlechteri Loes.;