Rhus natalensis
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Rhus natalensis (KwaZulu Natal rhus) is a plant in the sumac family that is cultivated for food in Africa. It is found from Guinea to Arabia and from Somalia south to South Africa.[1]
Contents
Cultivation in Kenya
Rhus natalensis is widespread in Kenya in thickets, bushland, dry forest margins, riverine thickets and wooded grassland up to 3000 meters in altitude.
- "Uses: Food: Fruits have a sweet-sour taste. Eaten mainly by children. Bark made into tea (Maasai, Kipsigis). Roots are used in soup (Kikuyu). Tender shoots and young leaves are chewed (Maasai).
- "Medicinal: Leaves used for heartburn, roots for influenza and abdominal pains, leaves for cough and stomach-ache (Kamba). A decoction of the roots is taken as a remedy for diarrhoea (Digo). Branches are boiled for stomach problems (Maasai, Samburu).
- "Other: Fuelwood. Charcoal. Goat, camel and cattle fodder. Toothbrushes. Root bark source of dye."[1]
Resources and articles
Related Sourcewatch articles
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 [Patrick M. Maundu, Grace W. Ngugi, and Christine H.S. Kabuye, Traditional Food Plants of Kenya, Kenya Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya, 1999, p. 194.
