Rourea orientalis
Baill.
Short-pod
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Description
A climbing shrub. It loses its leaves during the year. It grows 6 m high or higher. It can lie along the ground. There are 8-16 pairs of leaflets. They are 2-4 cm long by 1-2 cm wide. The flowering stalk is 6 cm long. The flowers have a sweet lemon scent. The petals are white to yellow. The fruit is a follicle. It is reddish-brown. It is 2 cm long by 1 cm wide. The seed is 1.6 cm long by 0.8 cm wide. It has a bright red layer around it.
Edible Uses
The dried leaves are prepared by sun-drying, pounding, and sieving into a powder, which is then stirred into hot water and boiled to make a thick vegetable paste eaten with other foods. Roots and tubers are also edible. The plant is a popular vegetable in some regions.
Traditional Uses
The dried leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. They are dried in the sun, pounded and sieved and the powder put into hot water and stirred and boiled to make a thick vegetable paste that is then eaten with other foods. Caution: Often when leaves are dried this removes a poison.
Medicinal Uses
A decoction of the roots is used as a remedy for diarrhoea, STDs and blockage of the urethra. It is also used as a prophylactic against tick fever and for treating headaches.
Known Hazards
Drying leaves removes a poison present in the fresh plant.
Distribution
It is a tropical plant. It grows in dry thickets and forests. It grows between 200-1,600 m altitude. It grows on termite mounds.
Where It Grows
Africa, Angola, Botswana, Central Africa, Congo, East Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Cultivation
Plants can be grown by seeds or cuttings.
Propagation
Seed - Cuttings.
Other Uses
The wood is used for fuel.
Production
In Tanzania the leaves are collected from November to June. The powdered form can be stored for several months.
Other Information
It is a popular vegetable in some places.
Synonyms
Also Known As
Hombo kisogo, Kamenambuzi, Kapakati, Kisogo, Liyenzi, Marumoro, Mhombo, Msalanjazi, Mudzumamuriro, Musunzi, Ntandanyerere, Sonange
References (20)
- Flora Zambesiaca. http://apps.kew.org/efloras
- Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 21
- Grubben, G. J. H. and Denton, O. A. (eds), 2004, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. p 564
- Harkonen, M. & Vainio-Mattila, K., 1998, Some examples of Natural Products in the Eastern Arc Mountains. Journal of East African Natural History 87:265-278
- http://www.fao.org/forestry/25323-096344a3de335832e8f363c3ac5184a66.pdf (As Byrsocarpus orientalis)
Show all 20 references Hide references
- Malaisse, F., 1997, Se nourrir en floret claire africaine. Approche ecologique et nutritionnelle. CTA., p 91.
- Mannheimer, C. A. & Curtis. B.A. (eds), 2009, Le Roux and Muller's Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of Namibia. Windhoek: Macmillan Education Namibia. p 76
- Msuya, T. S., et al, 2010, Availability, Preference and Consumption of Indigenous Foods in the Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania, Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 49:3, 208-227
- Norton, et al, 1987,
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 94
- Pickering, H., & Roe, E., 2009, Wild Flowers of the Victoria Falls Area. Helen Pickering, London. p 52
- Reis, S. V. and Lipp, F. L., 1982, New Plant Sources for Drugs and Foods from the New York Botanical Garden herbarium. Harvard. p 110 (As Byrsocarpus orientalis)
- Ruffo, C. K., Birnie, A. & Tengnas, B., 2002, Edible Wild Plants of Tanzania. RELMA p 572
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 45
- Vainio-Mattila, K., 2000, Wild vegetables used by the Sambaa in the Usumbara Mountains, NE Tanzania. Ann. Bot. Fennici 37:57-67
- Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179
- White, F., Dowsett-Lemaire, F. and Chapman, J. D., 2001, Evergreen Forest Flora of Malawi. Kew. p 210
- Williamson, J., 2005, Useful Plants of Malawi. 3rd. Edition. Mdadzi Book Trust. p 48 (As Byrsocarpus orientalis)
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- www.zimbabweflora.co.zw 2011
