Canthium spinosum

(Klotzsch ex Eckl. & Zeyh.) Kuntze

Spiny canthium, Coastal canthium

Rubiaceae Edible: Fruit 374 iNaturalist observations

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Description

A shrub or small tree. It grows 1.5-9 m tall. It has spines up to 2.5 cm long. These occur in pairs. The leaves grow in bunches on short warty growths. The leaves are green above and lighter underneath. They are 1.3-5 cm long. The flowers are small and green. They occur in short spreading heads. These are in the axils of leaves. The fruit are often 2-lobed. Fruit are bluish-green when ripe. They are edible.

Edible Uses

The fruit are eaten raw and have a pleasant flavour.

Traditional Uses

The fruit are eaten raw. They have a pleasant flavour.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

A tropical plant. It is usually in coastal forests. It is often on rocky hill slopes.

Where It Grows

Africa, East Africa, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Africa,

Notes

There are about 200 Canthium species.

Synonyms

Plectronia spinosa Klotzsch ex Eckl. & Zeyh.

Also Known As

Coastal turkey-berry

References (8)

Cunningham, 1985,
Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 329
Palgrave, K.C., 1996, Trees of Southern Africa. Struik Publishers. p 886
Palmer, E and Pitman, N., 1972, Trees of Southern Africa. Vol. 2. A.A. Balkema, Cape Town p 2105
Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 168

Show all 8 references

Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 96
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
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