Common Name:

General Information

Guizotia scabra is an erect, usually perennial, herbaceous plant growing up to 2 metres tall from a wiry rootstock[].
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of fibre.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - drier areas from Nigeria to Ethiopia and Kenya, south to Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Habitat

Abandoned fields, disturbed areas and secondary regrowth, often growing profusely and gregariously, at elevations from sea level to 1,200 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	1.50 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of drier areas in the tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 1,200 metres[]. In Tanzania it grows in areas where the mean annual rainfall is in the range 1,100 - 1,700 mm[].
Succeeds in a variety of soils[].
A common weed plant in east Africa, where it often invades a field immediately after a major crop has been harvested[].
The plant often grows profusely and gregariously as a weed, making it easy to harvest when mature[].

Edible Uses

Leaves - cooked[]. The tender leaves are chopped and cooked alone or mixed with other green vegetables such as amaranth or peas. Coconut milk, cooking oil, pounded groundnuts or sunflower seeds are added and the vegetable served with a staple such as ugali or rice[]. In some areas the leaves are viewed mainly as a famine food, though in others they are considered more acceptable[].

Seeds - raw or cooked[]. They can be pounded and eaten raw[]. The dry seeds can be roasted and ground to make a paste that is mixed with green vegetables, peas or beans[].

A vegetable salt is made from the stems by burning, followed by purification[]..

Medicinal

The plant is used in traditional medicine in DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. The leaves are the part used most frequently, but the bark and roots are also employed at times. Among the diseases and ailments treated with this plant are: malaria, constipation, salmonella infection, ulcers, stomach-ache, dyspepsia, gastritis, enteritis, syphilis and gonorrhoea[, ].

A root decoction is drunk to prevent miscarriage[].

Other Uses

The stem fibres are used to make nets[].

Propagation

Seed -

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