Salacia elegans

Welw. ex Oliv.

Celastraceae Edible: Fruit, Seed 5 iNaturalist observations

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Description

A creeping shrub or creeper. It can grow 6 m tall. It can grow 40 m long. The stems are flattened and have raised lines. They become reddish-purple with white spots. The leaves are opposite and usually shiny above and more pale underneath. They are 4-20 cm long by 2-5 cm wide. There can be teeth along the edge. The fruit are orange to red and 1-2.5 cm across. There are 1-2 seeds.

Edible Uses

The fruit and seeds are eaten.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. In Malawi it grows along the lake shore. It also grows in rainforest. It suits humid locations.

Where It Grows

Africa, Angola, Central Africa, Congo, East Africa, Guinea, Guinée, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Southern Africa, Uganda, West Africa,

Synonyms

Salacia cornifolia Tul.

Also Known As

Miputuculue

References (6)

East Arican Herbarium records, 1981,
Eilu, G. & Bukenya-Ziraba, R., 2004, Local Use of Climbing Plants of Budongo Forest Reserve, Western Uganda. Journal of Ethnobiology 24(2): 307-327
Mutie, F. M., et al, 2023, Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches. Plants 2023, 12, 1145
Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 81
White, F., Dowsett-Lemaire, F. and Chapman, J. D., 2001, Evergreen Forest Flora of Malawi. Kew. p 190

Show all 6 references