Diospyros pubescens
Pers.
South African star apple, South African persimmon
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Wikimedia Commons - Jacquin, Nikolaus Joseph; Mathiae Andreae Schmidt.
Description
A shrub or tree. It grows up to 10 m high. It has several stems. The bark is dark and peels off in long narrow strips. The leaves are narrowly oval. They are stiff and thickly leathery. They are small and 3.5 cm long by 0.5 cm wide. The leaves are felted underneath. The flowers are creamy white to pink. They hang down. There are 4 varieties. The fruit are round and velvety. They turn red to black as they ripen.
Edible Uses
The ripe fruit are edible.
Distribution
It is a subtropical plant. It grows in gravelly or stony soil. It grows along the coast. It grows in areas with an annual rainfall between 150-200 mm. It can grow in arid places.
Where It Grows
Africa, Lesotho, North America, South Africa*, Southern Africa, USA,
Production
The berries can be picked green and ripened after harvest.
Nutrition
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit | 54.8 | — | — | 4.1 | — | — | — | — |
Synonyms
Also Known As
Jakkalsbosberry, Kritikom
References (8)
- Guillarmod, J., 1971, (As Diospyros austro-africana)
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 104 (As Diospyros austro-africana)
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 16th April 2011] (As Diospyros austro-africana)
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 52 (As Diospyros austro-africana)
- 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 (As Diospyros austroafricana)
Show all 8 references Hide references
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- www.tradewindsfruit.com (As Diospyros austroafricana)
- Youngblood, D., 2004, Identification and Quantification of Edible Plant Foods in the Upper (Nama) Karoo, South Africa. Economic Botany 58 (Supplement) :S43-S65 (As Diospyros austro-africana)
