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Useful Tropical Plants

Lannea edulis

(Sond.) Engl.

Anacardiaceae

+ Synonyms

Lannea nana Engl.

Odina edulis Sond.

Common Name:

Lannea edulis
Fruits
Photograph by: Arthur Murray Harmsworth
Creative Commons License
Lannea edulis Lannea edulis Lannea edulis Lannea edulis Lannea edulis Lannea edulis Lannea edulis Lannea edulis Lannea edulis Lannea edulis

General Information

Lannea edulis is a deciduous perennial plant to dwarf shrub that grows from 3 - 60cm tall[
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.
,
328
Title
African Flowering Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php
Publisher
Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques.
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
]. The mass of this amazing plant is mostly buried out of sight beneath the soil. The subterranean trunks, that can be 13cm in diameter, creep along just beneath the surface. The branchlets bearing the leaves, flowers, and fruits stick up only slightly above the ground. The whole tree nonetheless can be very big. A single specimen may cover many square metres, but disguised in the dirt, its massive size is seldom realized[
323
Title
Lost Crops of Africa. Vol. 3 Fruits.
Publication
 
Author
 
Publisher
National Academy Press
Year
2008
ISBN
030910596X
Description
Masses of information on about 70 species of plants that have been utilized as fruits in 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.
,
394
Title
Flora Capensis
Publication
 
Author
Hiern. W.P.; Brown N.E.
Website
http://www.aluka.org/action/doBrowse?sa=1&st=662543&execbr=&sls=
Publisher
 
Year
1909
ISBN
 
Description
Rather dated, and many of the botanical names have been changed since it was written, but contains a wealth of information about plants of southern Africa. It can be downloaded or viewed online.

Range

Africa - Ethiopia, DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Botswana, S. Africa.

Habitat

Rocks[
349
Title
Global Tree Campaign - 40 Species in Trade
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.unep-wcmc.org/trees/trade/40_species_in_trade.htm
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
Information on the habitats, uses and some cultivation notes for 40 species of timber trees.
]. In open woodlands of several types, open grassy plains, dambos (swamps), termite mounds, burnt ground, at elevations from 245 - 1,625 metres[
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.
,
328
Title
African Flowering Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php
Publisher
Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques.
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
].

Properties

Edibility Rating *  *  *
Medicinal Rating *  *
HabitDeciduous Shrub
Height0.25 m
Growth RateSlow
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details


The plant has a deeply penetrating root system that anchors the it and endows it exceptional survivability under drought stress[
323
Title
Lost Crops of Africa. Vol. 3 Fruits.
Publication
 
Author
 
Publisher
National Academy Press
Year
2008
ISBN
030910596X
Description
Masses of information on about 70 species of plants that have been utilized as fruits in Africa.
].
The plant is acaulescent, or at least does not develop much above the surface of the soil and thus escapes the annual fires that are so common within much of its range[
645
Title
Inventory of Seeds and Plants Imported. Vol. 62
Publication
USDA Bureau of Plant Industry
Author
 
Website
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Publisher
USDA Government Printing Office; Washington DC.
Year
1923
ISBN
 
Description
Details of seeds and plants imported for trials by the United States Department of Agriculture in the first quarter of 1920, often detailing the uses of the plant and various other miscellaneous information. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
].
At the end of the dry season, bunches of small flowers pop out directly from the leafless stems, each bunch hanging from the bare wood and looking for all the world like creamy-yellow tinsel sprinkled over the land. People like these almost magical flowers, which are harbingers of the rains and of the better times soon to arrive[
323
Title
Lost Crops of Africa. Vol. 3 Fruits.
Publication
 
Author
 
Publisher
National Academy Press
Year
2008
ISBN
030910596X
Description
Masses of information on about 70 species of plants that have been utilized as fruits in Africa.
].
Later, the fruits begin forming. Eventually, they hang in grape-like bunches almost touching the ground, ripening slowly from pink through scarlet to wine-red and eventually black. Inside their thin skin is found smooth green flesh and a bean-shaped stone. In most the layer of pulp is thin, but whatever there is normally is juicy and pleasantly sour. They are exceptionally popular, particularly with children. Throughout much of southern Africa, kids squeezing tree grapes between their fingers and shooting the pulp into their mouths is a common sight[
323
Title
Lost Crops of Africa. Vol. 3 Fruits.
Publication
 
Author
 
Publisher
National Academy Press
Year
2008
ISBN
030910596X
Description
Masses of information on about 70 species of plants that have been utilized as fruits in Africa.
].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[
394
Title
Flora Capensis
Publication
 
Author
Hiern. W.P.; Brown N.E.
Website
http://www.aluka.org/action/doBrowse?sa=1&st=662543&execbr=&sls=
Publisher
 
Year
1909
ISBN
 
Description
Rather dated, and many of the botanical names have been changed since it was written, but contains a wealth of information about plants of southern Africa. It can be downloaded or viewed online.
]. A dark-purple grapelike fruit with a delicate skin, somewliat musty in flavour but pleasant after the first taste[
645
Title
Inventory of Seeds and Plants Imported. Vol. 62
Publication
USDA Bureau of Plant Industry
Author
 
Website
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Publisher
USDA Government Printing Office; Washington DC.
Year
1923
ISBN
 
Description
Details of seeds and plants imported for trials by the United States Department of Agriculture in the first quarter of 1920, often detailing the uses of the plant and various other miscellaneous information. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
]. The bright to deep red, ovate, subglobose fruit is up to 11mm long and 9mm wide, containing a single seed[
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.
,
394
Title
Flora Capensis
Publication
 
Author
Hiern. W.P.; Brown N.E.
Website
http://www.aluka.org/action/doBrowse?sa=1&st=662543&execbr=&sls=
Publisher
 
Year
1909
ISBN
 
Description
Rather dated, and many of the botanical names have been changed since it was written, but contains a wealth of information about plants of southern Africa. It can be downloaded or viewed online.
].

Medicinal

The fruit is supposed to be a cure for 'black water fever'[
645
Title
Inventory of Seeds and Plants Imported. Vol. 62
Publication
USDA Bureau of Plant Industry
Author
 
Website
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Publisher
USDA Government Printing Office; Washington DC.
Year
1923
ISBN
 
Description
Details of seeds and plants imported for trials by the United States Department of Agriculture in the first quarter of 1920, often detailing the uses of the plant and various other miscellaneous information. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-12-06. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Lannea+edulis>

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