Oxygonum salicifolium

Dammer

Polygonaceae Edible: Leaves, Vegetable

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Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

gbif· cc-by

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

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MBG

Description

A slender trailing herb. It has many branches. The stems can be 1 m long. The leaves are alternate and simple. The sheath around the stem is cylinder shaped and 1 cm long and has red hairs at the end. The leaves are narrowly oval and 3-7 cm long by 2-20 mm wide. The flowers are in a spike like group 12-20 cm long. The flowers are tube shaped. The fruit is a softly hairy nut.

Edible Uses

The leaves are cooked and eaten, often prepared together with other leaves to improve the taste, and used as a vegetable.

Traditional Uses

The leaves are cooked and eaten. They are often cooked with other leaves to improve the taste.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. In Kenya it grows in coastal regions.

Where It Grows

Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Tanzania,

Cultivation

The plants are polygamous - the flowers can be either bisexual or unisexual.

Other Information

It is harvested from the wild and is of minor and local importance.

Nutrition

Part	Moisture	kJ	kcal	Protein	Vit A	Vit C	Iron	Zinc
Leaves	88.7	—	—	2.3	—	—	10.6	—

Also Known As

Bamba, Kimbiri, Kindiri

References (6)

East African Herbarium records, 1981,
Grubben, G. J. H. and Denton, O. A. (eds), 2004, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. p 407
Maundu, P. et al, 1999, Traditional Food Plants of Kenya. National Museum of Kenya. 288p
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 162

Show all 6 references