Pollichia campestris

Aiton

Waxberry, Barley sugar bush

Caryophyllaceae Edible: Flowers, Fruit, Leaves 773 iNaturalist observations

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Description

A herb or small shrub. It has many branches. It grows 60 cm tall. The young branches have a white woolly covering. The leaves are grey-green. They are 1-3 cm long by 0.5 cm wide. They are narrowly sword shaped. The flowers are in groups of 5. The petals are white. The fruit is a capsule 1.3 mm long by 0.7 mm wide. There is usually one seed 0.8 mm long by 0.5 mm wide. The fruit are edible.

Edible Uses

The fruit and flowers are eaten raw, with the fleshy part of the flower being the primary edible portion. The fruit are especially popular with children, and the leaves are also edible.

Traditional Uses

The fruit and flowers are eaten raw. It is the fleshy part of the flower that is eaten.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

It is a tropical and subtropical plant. It grows in open bushland on sandy soils. It grows in hot arid areas with a marked dry season. It grows in deep well-drained soils. It grows from sea level to 1,700 m altitude. It can grow in arid places.

Where It Grows

Africa, Arabia, Botswana, East Africa, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Middle East, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

Usually found in the wild in sandy, dry to moist soils.

Other Information

The fruit are eaten especially by children.

Notes

Also put in the family Illecebraceae.

Also Known As

Amangabangaba, Chihembelo, Egogong, Guunguma korbeessaa, Letsoai, Manga, Monokotsoai-oa-makhoaba, Nkayakuj, Sefakoana, Tsimo-ea-manyokolo, Ukudla kwambhayi, Umhlungulu, Utywala

References (23)

Flora Zambesiaca. http://apps.kew.org/efloras
Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 17
Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 148, 239
Gemedo-Dalle, T., et al, 2005, Plant Biodiversity and Ethnobotany of Borana Pastoralists in Southern Oromia, Ethiopia. Economic Botany 59(1) pp. 43-65
Glover et al, 1966b,

Show all 23 references

Goode, P., 1989, Edible Plants of Uganda. FAO p 30
Grivetti, L. E., 1980, Agricultural development: present and potential role of edible wild plants. Part 2: Sub-Saharan Africa, Report to the Department of State Agency for International Development. p 44, 71
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Ichikawa, M., 1980, The Utilization of Wild Food Plants by the Suiei Dorobo in Northern Kenya. J. Anthrop. Soc. Nippon. 88(1): 25-48
Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 95, 155
Long, C., 2005, Swaziland's Flora - siSwati names and Uses http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora/
Mason, 1971,
Mutie, F. M., et al, 2023, Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches. Plants 2023, 12, 1145
Peters & Maguire, 1981,
Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 117
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 18th April 2011]
Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 42
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Story, 1958,
van Wyk, Be., & Gericke, N., 2007, People's plants. A Guide to Useful Plants of Southern Africa. Briza. p 54
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
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew