Compilation
Maerua edulis

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Name

Identification
Maerua edulis (Gilg & Gilg-Ben.) De wolf [family CAPPARACEAE ]
Related name
  • Maerua edulis

Flora

Entry for Maerua edulis [family CAPPARACEAE]
Herbarium
South African National Biodiversity Institute, Compton Herbarium, Cape Town (SAM)
Collection
Flora of Southern Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of South Africa, (2003) Author: Dr J.P. Roux
Names
Maerua edulis [family CAPPARACEAE]
Common names
Courbonia edulis Gilg & Ben. in Bot. Jahrb. 53 : 218 (1915). C. glauca (Klotzsch)Gilg & Ben. in Bot. Jahrb. 53 : 221 (1915); Milne-Red. in Mem. N.Y. Bot. Gard. 8 : 217 (1953); Wild in F.Z. 1 : 214, t.34A (1960). Physanthemum glaucum Klotzsch in Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 1 : 167, t.29 (1861), non Maerua glauca Chiov. Type: Mozambique, Sena, Peters (B, holo.).
Information
Small shrub c. 1 m tall (rarely up to 2-4 m), branched from base, glaucous, glabrous; branches smooth, green. Leaves simple, petiolate; lamina ovate to broadly ovate, 1 • 5-2 • 7 cm long, 1 ? 2-2 cm wide, apex round, mucronate, base rounded, 3-5-veined near base; petiole 4-5 mm long. Flowers axillary, solitary, towards the ends of the branches; pedicels 1-2-2 cm long. Receptacle infundi­bular, 1 -5-2-5 mm long, 2-5-3 mm wide at mouth; disc coronate, undulate or denticu­late, 1 • 5-2 mm long. Sepals 3(4), elliptic-ovate, 1-4-1-6 mm long. Petals 0. Andro-phore 4-5 mm long, exserted about 1 • 5-2 mm. Stamens 40-65, 2-2-5 cm long, conspicuously apiculate. Gynophore 2-5 cm long, usually recurved when mature. Ovary 6 mm long, ellipsoid, narrowed at both ends, 2-celled; ovules 4; stigma capitate. Fruit globose, 1-8-3 cm diam., "smooth", yellow-orange when ripe. Seeds 1-4, discoid, up to 2 cm diam., 0-5 mm thick. Fig. 22 : 8.
Habitat
In tropical Africa the plant is used medicinally and the ripe fruits are eaten by Africans, but no reports of similar usage are known for Southern Africa. However, during the tsetse-fly aerial spraying operations in Zululand in the 1940's, the plant was used to indicate whether sufficient DDT had been applied. This was judged from the patchiness of the leaves: apparently the DDT had a marked effect on the glaucous waxiness of the leaves.
Use
6. Maerua edulis (Gilg & Ben.)De Wolf in Kew Bull. 16 : 82 (1962); EhTers et al. in ' F.T.E.A. Capparidaceae : 42 (1964). Type : Tanzania, Dodoma District, Ugogo, Kannen-berg (B, lecto.; PRE, photo.).
Range
Found in savanna, woodland (often in Mopani Veld), succulent scrub and on rocky slopes in northern Zululand and the Transvaal from the Pietersburg District northwards. Also in Rhodesia, Mozambique, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania and the Congo.

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