Chrysophyllum viridifolium

J. M. Wood & Franks

Fluted milkwood

Sapotaceae Edible: Fruit

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Description

A large tree. It can be 30 m tall and have a trunk 2 m across. The trunk can be deeply fluted. The leaves are simple and scattered on the twigs. They are 3.8-11 cm long by 1.9-5 cm wide. They are oblong. The leaves are dark green on top and lighter underneath. The midrib is sunken on top and raised underneath. The flowers are small and white and bell shaped. They occur in clusters in the axils of lower leaves. The fruit is a berry. it is 2.5 cm across. It is yellow and smooth. The yellow pulp has sticky sap and 5 shiny yellow seeds. These are 1.3 cm long and boat shaped. The fruit are edible.

Edible Uses

The fruit are eaten and have a pleasant taste.

Traditional Uses

The fruit are eaten.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

A tropical plant. It occurs in evergreen forest.

Where It Grows

Africa, East Africa, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

A tree of low to moderate elevations in the subtropics to the tropics.

Other Uses

The wood is used for timber, grain mortars and stools.

Production

The fruit ripen irregularly throughout the year.

Other Information

They have a pleasant taste.

Notes

There are about 80-150 Chrysophyllum species. They are mostly in tropical America. There are 44 species in tropical America.

Nutrition

Part	Moisture	kJ	kcal	Protein	Vit A	Vit C	Iron	Zinc
Fruit	58.2	715	171	2.7	—	—	—	—

Synonyms

Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 339 INFOODS:FAO/INFOODS Databases Long, C., 2005, Swaziland's Flora - siSwati names and Uses http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora/ Palgrave, K.C., 1996, Trees of Southern Africa. Struik Publishers. p 726 Palmer, E and Pitman, N., 1972, Trees of Southern Africa. Vol. 3. A.A. Balkema, Cape Town p 1739 Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 182 Swaziland's Flora Database http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora van Wyk, Be., & Gericke, N., 2007, People's plants. A Guide to Useful Plants of Southern Africa. Briza. p 42 Van Wyk, Br. and van Wyk P., 2009, Field Guide to Trees of Southern Africa. Struik Nature. p 92 von Katja Rembold, 2011, Conservation status of the vascular plants in East African rain forests. Dissertation Universitat Koblenz-Landau p 162 Wehmeyer, A. S, 1986, Edible Wild Plants of Southern Africa. Data on the Nutrient Contents of over 300 species 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 J. M. Wood & M. Evans, Natal Plants 6(3): t. 569. 1912 White, F., Dowsett-Lemaire, F. and Chapman, J. D., 2001, Evergreen Forest Flora of Malawi. Kew. p 538 World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (As Donella viridifolia)