Scientific
name
Vangueria madagascariensis1 (Gmel.)
V.
acutiloba Robyns,
V. edulis Lam., V. floribunda Robyns
Family name
Rubiaceae
Local name(s)
Modhukaantaa (Konsogna),
Buriri (Borena)
General description
V.
madagascariensis
is a deciduous, usually multi-stemmed shrub or, less often, a small tree rarely
exceeding 6m. The bark is smooth, grey to dark grey. Leaves are opposite, large,
dark green, more or less without hairs, with conspicuous greenish white veins.
Flowers are to 8mm long, green or greenish white borne on a branched
inflorescence. Fruits are shiny dark green, round and narrowed to one end and up
to 4.5cm across. Ripe fruits are greenish brown and soft. The dried fruit is
grooved like a pumpkin. Edible part(s),
preparation methods and palatability
Fruits
are edible. Fruits are sweet and delicious with a slight acid taste. The fruit
skin is tough. Therefore, it is removed and the pulp together with the seeds
sucked. Seeds are then discarded. The fruit is eaten raw in normal times by
children and by any people in food shortage periods. Each fruit contains 3-4
stones/seeds inside.
Agroecology
It
grows from Ethiopia to Nigeria and south to South Africa. The plant is also
cultivated in India, northern Australia and Trinidad. It grows in riverine
bushland, bushland, evergreen forest, bushed grassland, sometimes on rocky
outcrops and termite mounds, sea level to 2,400m. Preferred soils are rocky,
sandy red clay or sandy clay.
Propagation
method(s)
Propagates
by seeds.
Sample location(s)
Jarso Kebele, Konso
Remarks
Other
uses of the species are handles for hoes, fuelwood, stirrers, poles (centre pole
for huts). The fruits are also eaten by elephants. Furthermore, the species is a
useful multipurpose agroforestry tree species.
Drawings
in Maundu et al., 1999: p. 231
1Parts
of the following description have been taken from Maundu et al., 1999: p. 231
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