Dolichos buchananii
Harms
Dolichos flower, Wild Lupin, Bully-beef plant
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The New York Botanical Garden
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MBG
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The New York Botanical Garden
Description
An erect perennial herb. It puts up stems each year from a woody rootstock. These are 0.25-1.2 m tall. The flowers normally develop when the leaves are absent. The roots are large and tuberous and have red and white streaks. The leaves are compound leaves. Normally there are 3-4 leaflets. They are 2-18 cm long and 1-8 cm wide. They can vary in shape. The tips can be pointed or blunt and the base can be rounded or heart shaped. The flowers are purple. Between 1 and 4 flowers occur in clusters in the axils of leaves. The fruit is a pod. It is 4-9 cm long and 1-1.5 cm wide. The seeds are orange and almost square. They are 6-9 mm long by 4.7 mm wide.
Edible Uses
The purple flowers are cooked together with other leaves.
Traditional Uses
The flowers are often cooked with other leaves.
This uses section is brief — help expand it
Distribution
A tropical plant. It grows in open woodland or grassland. In Ethiopia it grows between 1000 and 1700 m altitude.
Where It Grows
Africa, Angola, Central Africa, East Africa, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Southern Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Notes
Probably now a synonym of Dolichos kilmandscharicus.
Synonyms
References (3)
- FAO, 1988, Traditional Food Plants, FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 42. FAO Rome p 252
- Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 75
- Terra, G.J.A., 1973, Tropical Vegetables. Communication 54e Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, p 45
