Lepidotrichilia volkensii

(Gurke) J.-F. Leroy

Meliaceae Edible: Fruit 6 iNaturalist observations

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Description

A shrub or tree. It keeps is leaves throughout the year. It grows up to 20 m tall. The trunk is often fluted. The bark is smooth and grey. The inner bark is red. The crown is spreading. The leaves are alternate and has 7-11 pairs of leaflets with a leaflet at the end. The leaflets are narrowly oval and 5-20 cm long by 2-8 cm wide. The flowers are in a group 25 cm long. They have yellowish-brown hairs. The fruit is a flattened round berry. It is 7-15 mm across. It has 2-3 seeds. They are 2-3 mm long.

Edible Uses

The fruit is eaten raw.

Traditional Uses

The fruit is eaten raw.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

The sesquiterpenoid voleneol has been isolated from the plant.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It grows in mountain forest between 1,500-2,400 m altitude. It is in areas where the rainfall is 1,500-2,000 mm per year.

Where It Grows

Africa, Burundi, Central Africa, Congo, East Africa, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia,

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seed. Self sown plants can be transplanted. Seeds can only be stored for a short time.

Propagation

Seed - it has a short period of viability and so should be sown as soon as it is ripe. The seed does not need pretreatment.

Other Uses

The whitish heartwood is hard, with a fine texture. The wood is used for local construction and to make spoons and tool handles. The wood is used for fuel and to make charcoal.

Notes

There are 4 Lepidotrichilia species in Africa.

Synonyms

Trichilia volkensii Gurke

Also Known As

Kijang, Umugayigayi, Xabbicho

References (6)

Awas, T., 1997, A Study on the Ecology and Ethnobotany of Non-cultivated Food Plants and Wild Relatives of Cultivated crops in Gambella Region, Southwestern Ethiopia. Addis Ababa University. p 57
Lemmens, R.H.M.J., 2008. Lepidotrichilia volkensii (Gürke) J.-F.Leroy. [Internet] Record from Protabase. Louppe, D., Oteng-Amoako, A.A. & Brink, M. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa), Wageningen, Netherlands. < http://database.prota.org/search.htm>. Accessed 16 October 2009.
Lulekal, E., et al, 2011, Wild edible plants in Ethiopia: a review on their potential to combat food insecurity. Afrika Focus - Vol. 24, No 2. pp 71-121
Sina, B. & Degu, H. D., 2015, Knowledge and use of Wild Edible Plants in the Hula District of the Sidama Zone. International Journal of Bio-resource and Stress Management 6(3):352-365
White, F., Dowsett-Lemaire, F. and Chapman, J. D., 2001, Evergreen Forest Flora of Malawi. Kew. p 365

Show all 6 references