Psychotria capensis
(Eckl.) Vatke
Bird berry
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(c) Brendan Cole, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by Brendan Cole
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Ricky Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Ricky Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Summary
Source: WikipediaPsychotria capensis, the bird-berry, is a southern African evergreen shrub or small tree. It belongs to a genus which is used medicinally in many regions, 'Psychotria' being from the Greek for 'rejuvenating', in reference to the healing properties of certain species. Kew lists some 2,000 species of Psychotria growing throughout the warmer regions of both hemispheres, but only two of them occur in southern Africa, namely P. capensis and P. zombamontana.
Description
A shrub or small tree. It grows 1-5 m tall or taller. The stems are finely ridged. The leaves are 3-14 cm long by 1-6 cm wide. The flowers are in much branched groups 2-15 cm long. They are yellow. The fruit are red and 5-6.5 mm across.
Edible Uses
The red fruits are eaten.
Distribution
It is a subtropical plant.
Where It Grows
Africa, South Africa, Southern Africa, Zimbabwe,
Synonyms
References (1)
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
