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Useful Tropical Plants

Lepidium africanum

(Burm.f.) DC.

Brassicaceae

+ Synonyms

Lepidium ambiguum F.Muell.

Lepidium divaricatum Aiton

Lepidium dubium Thell.

Lepidium hyssopifolium Desv.

Lepidium iberioides Desv.

Lepidium linoides Thunb.

Lepidium schlechteri Burtt Davy

Lepidium subdentatum Burch. ex DC.

Lepidium tasmanicum Thell.

Nasturtium divaricatum (Aiton) Kuntze

Thlaspi africanum Burm.f.

Thlaspi divaricatum (Aiton) Poir.

Common Name:

Lepidium africanum
Plant growing in native habitat
Photograph by: Fagg, M.
Image credit to Australian National Botanic Gardens
Lepidium africanum Lepidium africanum Lepidium africanum Lepidium africanum

General Information

Lepidium africanum is an erect or straggling, usually much-branched, annual to perennial plant with stems that can become more or less woody; it can grow 15 - 100cm tall[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

308
Title
Flora Zambesiaca
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants.

Range

Africa - Eritrea, Ethiopia, eastern DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, S. Africa - Madagascar.

Habitat

Open dry grassland, a weed in arable fields, roadsides; at elevations from 1,100 - 2,600 metres, occasionally descending to 100 metres[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Properties

Weed PotentialYes
Edibility Rating *  *
Medicinal Rating *  *
HabitAnnual/Perennial
Height0.70 m
PollinatorsInsects
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details



The plant has become a widespread weed of warm temperate to tropical regions[
305
Title
Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
].

Edible Uses

Leaves - cooked and eaten as a vegetable[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Medicinal

The leaves are used in traditional medicine to treat cough, bronchitis and sore throat[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Dried unripe seed is added to food for the treatment of stomach ulcers[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-03-29. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Lepidium+africanum>

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