Albuca amboensis
(Schinz.) Oberm.
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The New York Botanical Garden
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Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
gbif· cc-by
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Summary
A bulbous plant with edible leaves and roots. Grows in light sandy to medium loamy soils with good drainage. Tolerates mildly acidic to alkaline pH. Requires full sun and adapts to both dry and moist conditions.
Description
A bulbous plant with edible leaves and roots. Grows in light sandy to medium loamy soils with good drainage. Tolerates mildly acidic to alkaline pH. Requires full sun and adapts to both dry and moist conditions.
Edible Uses
Both the leaves and bulbs can be eaten raw and are used in salads.
Traditional Uses
The leaves and the bulb are eaten raw in salads. They are pounded.
This uses section is brief — help expand it
Medicinal Uses
None known.
Distribution
It is a subtropical plant. It needs a light well drained soil. It does best in full sunlight. It can stand only light frosts.
Where It Grows
Africa, Botswana, South Africa, Southern Africa,
Cultivation
It can be grown from seed or by division of offsets.
Propagation
Sow seed in a greenhouse in a light, well-drained compost as soon as it is ripe if possible, otherwise in spring. Sow thinly so that young plants can be grown on in the same pot for their first year. Apply a liquid feed occasionally if seedlings appear to need nutrients, then prick out at the end of their first growing season. Grow on for at least one more winter in the greenhouse before planting out with bulbs dormant in late summer or early autumn. Can also be propagated by division of offsets in late summer.
Other Uses
None known.
Notes
There are about 30 Albuca species. They are native to Southern Africa. Also put in the family Hyacinthaceae.
Synonyms
References (7)
- Anderson, M., 2002, The World Encyclopedia of Cacti and Succulents. Hermes House, New York. p 129 (Genus)
- Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 253
- Heinz & Maguire, 1974,
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 30
- Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
Show all 7 references Hide references
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 65
- 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
