Botanical name |
Vangueria infausta |
Other names |
Wild medlar; mispel (Afrikaans); umtulwa (Zulu); mothwanyê (Tswana) |
Family |
Rubiaceae |
Dimensions |
A small deciduous tree, usually 2 to 4 m in height, occasionally up to 7 m |
Description of stem |
Bark grey, sometimes pinkish, smooth, but peeling and rough in small irregular patches; hairs on young twigs; trunk often convoluted, multistemmed and uneven |
Description of leaves |
Simple, opposite, elliptic, hairy, light to yellow-green; apex and base tapering; margin entire; netveining prominent on lower surface; leaf often broadly undulating or twisted; size quite variable, reaching over 20 cm in length and 5 cm in width; galls caused by insects are commonly found on the leaf surface |
Description of flowers |
Yellow to whitish flowers clustered along the small twigs; appear in spring; the petals disappear early |
Desciption of seed/fruit |
Light brown spherical, soft fruit of over 3 cm in diameter appear in summer into autumn; 3 to 5 seeds are embedded in a soft pulp |
Description of roots |
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Variation |
Leaf shape |
Propagation and cultivation |
Can be grown from cuttings and seed, but is seldom found in cultivation; the seeds are taken out of the pulp, dried and beaten to weaken the covering before planting |
Tolerances |
Hardy, drought resistant, moderately cold resistant |
Uses |
Roots used in treatment of malaria and pneumonia; fruits are eaten by many wild animals and by people; it is quite popular with many as a veld fruit; sometimes the fruits are made into a pulp as a substitute for apple sauce in puddings, if the infestation by insects can be overcome! The alcoholic beverage, mampoer, has been distilled from the fruit |
Ecological rarity |
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Pests and diseases |
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Other |
Said to bring bad luck as reflected in the name 'infausta', but only some indigenous populations avoid using it |
Location |
In grassland, on wooded hills and among rocks in summer rainfall areas |
Distribution (SA provinces) |
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Country |
South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia, Angola, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar |