Xylotheca tettensis
(Klotzsch) Gilg.
African dogrose
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(c) Graeme White, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Graeme White
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(c) Bart Wursten, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bart Wursten
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(c) Alfredo Laquene Gotine, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Alfredo Laquene Gotine
Description
A shrub or small tree. It grows 5 m tall. The young branches have a yellow covering with long hairs. The leaves appear just before the flowers. The leaf blade is 2-10 cm long by 1-7 cm wide. They are oval and rounded at the tip. The edges can be wavy. The flowers usually occur singly. They are in the axils of leaves or at the ends of branches. There are 7-12 petals and they are white. The fruit is woody and half round. It can have several long ridges along it. There are any seeds. They are narrowly oval and pale brown. They are in a thin red pulp. There are some varieties.
Edible Uses
The fruit is edible.
Distribution
It is a tropical plant.
Where It Grows
Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe,
Notes
Also put in the Flacourtiaceae family.
Synonyms
Also Known As
Matandau
References (4)
- East African Herbarium records, 1981,
- JSTOR Global Plants edible
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 115
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
