Brachystelma discoideum
R. A. Dyer
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Wikimedia Commons - Kew Royal Botanic Gardens
Description
A herb. It has underground stems or rhizomes. It has flattened tubers. It grows 10 cm high. It keeps growing from year to year. There are 1 or 2 stems that are only slightly branched. The stems have hairs. The leaves are broadly oval or round and 5-15 mm long and wide. The leaves have hairs underneath. There are 1 or 2 flowers near the axils of leaves.
Edible Uses
The roots are eaten as a snack and also cooked as a vegetable.
Traditional Uses
The roots are eaten as a snack and also cooked as a vegetable.
This uses section is brief — help expand it
Distribution
It is a subtropical plant that grows in hot arid areas. It grows in regions with a dry season of 6-11 months. It can grow in arid places. It grows in gravelly, sandy soil. In South Africa it grows between 1,100-1,300 m above sea level.
Where It Grows
Africa, Botswana, East Africa, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Zimbabwe,
Notes
Also put in the family Asclepiadaceae.
References (3)
- 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 28th March 2011]
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 22
- 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
