Icacina oliviformis
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Icacina oliviformis |
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| ( Poir. ) J. Raynal |
Icacina oliviformis is a species of plant in the Icacinaceae family from West to Central Africa and Sudan .
description
Icacina oliviformis grows as an upright or climbing, almost bare and drought-resistant shrub up to about 1 meter high. Large tubers with deep taproots and long runners are formed. From the several (up to over 50) kilograms, 30-50 centimeter tall tubers can appear up to several hundred, up to 1 meter long stems, around 30 are normal, whereby not all stems form flowers at the same time. There are also non-flowering individuals, with much fewer stems and much smaller roots. The plant is very resilient and quickly becomes a weed .
The simple and alternate, short-stalked leaves are bare. They are 6–10 centimeters long and 4–8 centimeters wide, with entire margins, rounded to pointed and ovate to obovate or elliptical, lanceolate. The short petiole is up to 6 millimeters long.
Terminal or axillary, compound, zymous inflorescences with umbrella-like groups are formed. The small, cream-colored and fragrant, short-stalked flowers are five-fold with a double flower envelope . The very small, cup-shaped calyx with short, ragged and triangular tips is finely haired with silky hair on the outside. The eilanzettlichen, laid back and free petals are up to 7 millimeters long and partly woolly inside, basal and partly finely hairy on the outside. The 5 free, alternipetal stamens are about as long as the petals. The upper ovary is densely hairy and silky. The slim pen , with minimal scar , is about as long as the stamens.
Roundish and orange to reddish-orange, mostly solitary, about 2.5-3.5 centimeters in size, finely silky hairy, peach-like drupes with a large stone core are formed.
use
The sweet fruits with gelatinous pulp are edible.
The bitter, slightly poisonous, gum-resinous and fibrous tubers are eaten in times of need. But you have to be well watered for several days to remove the toxins. Sometimes they are even cultivated.
The slightly poisonous seeds are processed into flour and eaten in times of need. But they have to be soaked for a week with daily water changes, then dried in the sun for 2 days and finally ground into flour.
The leaves, roots and branches are used medicinally. The leaves are poisonous to sheep.
literature
- J. Michael Fay: Icacina oliviformis (Icacinaceae): A Close Look at an Underexploited Food Plant. III. Ecology and Production. In: Economic Botany. Vol. 47, no. 2, 1993, pp. 163-170, JSTOR 4255501 , (description).
- J. Michael Fay: Icacina oliviformis (Icacinaceae): A Close Look at an Underexploited Crop. I. Overview and Ethnobotany. In: Economic Botany. Vol. 41, No. 4, 1987, pp. 512-522, JSTOR 4255023 , (illustration).
- Lost Crops of Africa. Volume III: Fruits , National Academies Press, 2008, ISBN 0-309-10597-8 , pp. 281-289.
- Hans Dieter Neuwinger: African Ethnobotany. Poisons and Drugs. Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology. CRC Press, 1996, ISBN 978-3-8261-0077-2 , p. 542 ff.
Web links
- Icacina oliviformis at Useful Tropical Plants.
- Icacina oliviformis . In: S. Dressler, M. Schmidt, G. Zizka (Eds.): African plants - A Photo Guide. Senckenberg, Frankfurt / Main 2014.