Aerva leucura

Moquin

Foam bush, White head

Amaranthaceae Edible: Leaves, Vegetable

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Description

A herb. It is 100-130 cm high. It often branches near the top. It is woolly and keeps growing from year to year. The leaves are alternate. The leaf blade is 5-8 cm long. It is egg shaped and tapers to both ends. They are dull green and covered with hairs. The flowers are small and white or yellow-white and in dense spikes. These are 2 cm long. The fruit is a small, dry capsule.

Edible Uses

The young leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable, often cooked together with peanuts, other leaves, and vegetables, or used as a relish. It is particularly valuable early in the growing season when other vegetables are not yet available.

Traditional Uses

The young leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. They are cooked with peanuts and other leaves and vegetables. They are used as a relish.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

The plant is used in traditional medicine.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It often grows on ant hills. It grows along roadsides. It can grow in arid places. In Tanzania it grows between 600-1,700 m above sea level.

Where It Grows

Africa, Angola, Botswana, Central Africa, Congo, East Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

Grows best in a sunny position. Prefers a well-drained, loamy soil.

Propagation

Seed - Cuttings of the new shoots as new growth commences. The cuttings root fast and are usually ready to plant out within 3 months.

Other Uses

The dry flowers have been used to stuff pillows.

Other Information

It is used early in the season when other vegetables are not yet available.

Notes

There are about 10 Aerva species in warmer climates. It is used in medicine.

Nutrition

Part	Moisture	kJ	kcal	Protein	Vit A	Vit C	Iron	Zinc
Leaves	83	233	—	2.4	—	—	10.3	0.9

Synonyms

Aerva ambigua Moq.Aerva edulis Suess.

Also Known As

Chidyonko, Fototo, Furanondo, Hoto, Kilindila, Kilindila, Kinonga, Lifweni, Mgungum mwenza, Mioma wa mbuya, Nyarotarota, Tlogotsweu

References (19)

Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 6
Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 70
Grubben, G. J. H. and Denton, O. A. (eds), 2004, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. p 559
Herb., E. A., 1985,
Long, C., 2005, Swaziland's Flora - siSwati names and Uses http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora/

Show all 19 references

Maguire, 1978,
Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 47
Pickering, H., & Roe, E., 2009, Wild Flowers of the Victoria Falls Area. Helen Pickering, London. p 20
Roodt, V., 1998, Common Wild Flowers of the Okavango Delta. Medicinal Uses and Nutritional value. The Shell Field Guide Series: Part 2. Shell Botswana. p 17
Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 9
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 24th March 2011]
Ruffo, C. K., Birnie, A. & Tengnas, B., 2002, Edible Wild Plants of Tanzania. RELMA p 110
Swaziland's Flora Database http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora
Thiselton-Dywer, W.T., (Ed.), 1913, Flora of Tropical Africa. Vol VI-section 1. Reeve, p 39
Tredgold, M.H., 1986, Food Plants of Zimbabwe. Mambo Press. p 63
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
Williamson, J., 2005, Useful Plants of Malawi. 3rd. Edition. Mdadzi Book Trust. p 15
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
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