''Vangueria infausta'', the medlar or African medlar, is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae excl ...

in the family

Rubiaceae The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules a ...

, which is native to the southern and eastern

Afrotropics The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...

. Some other names for ''V. infausta'' in Southern African languages include mmilo in Northern Sotho, muzwilu in Venḓa, umviyo in Southern Ndebele, mothwani in Tswana and umtulwa in Zulu. The fruits are consumed by humans and have a pleasant apple-like flavor. The specific name ''infausta'' alludes to a superstition that an evil spirit lives within the tree and the misfortune from its use as firewood which is said to 'unlock' the evil spirit from the wood. Many indigenous african names for ''V. infausta'' come from the Prot-Bantu mìdìdò (plural "fires").

Description

The trees are low-branching and mostly smallish but may reach 8 m in height. They have drooping branchlets and have pale greyish brown, flaky bark. The fairly large, dull leaves have entire margins and are somewhat variable in shape. They have an opposite arrangement and conspicuous net-veining below. Young leaves are boat-shaped and recurved along the central vein. Dense clusters of robust green flowers develop from pointed buds in spring. Each velvety flower is about 4 mm long and 6 mm wide, and are carried on opposite and axillary

cymes An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

. The corolla is dropped early. The initially green and glossy fruit appear in summer, and bear the remains of the calyx around their tips. They develop into unevenly shaped, glossy,

tan Tan or TAN may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Black and Tans, a nickname for British special constables during the Irish War of Independence. By extension "Tans" can now also colloquially refer to English or British people in general, es ...

-coloured plums, that contain soft fleshy pulp and fairly large seeds.

Range

This shrub or small tree occurs in abundance in woodlands, scrub, valleys, stony

kopjes An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...

, or sandy dunes throughout much of Southern and East Africa, including Madagascar. In Africa it is native to

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kal ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. It may be found from 350 to 1,330 m above sea level.

Uses

The African medlar is a traditional food plant in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. This little-known fruit has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable land care. The fruit are consumed raw or the pulp may be dried and stored for later use, while the seeds may be roasted. Goats and game browse on the leaves, while other animals may consume the fruit on the tree, or after they are shed on the ground. The roots and leaves are used by traditional healers. Thin twigs are prone to being populated by spittlebugs. File:Vangueria infausta, loof, Walter Sisulu NBT.jpg, The boat-shaped leaves File:Acalitus mallyi-mytgalle op Vangueria infausta, Pretoria.jpg, ''

Acalitus ''Acalitus'' is a genus of mites in the family Eriophyidae. These cosmopolitan, microscopic arthropods form gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the ...

'' mite galls on leaves File:Vangueria infausta, blomme, Schanskop, b.jpg, Flowers File:Vangueria infausta, vrug, Schanskop.jpg, Fruit

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7914865 Fruits originating in Africa infausta Trees of South Africa Flora of Uganda Flora of Tanzania Flora of Mozambique Flora of Madagascar Flora of Botswana Flora of Zimbabwe Flora of Namibia Crops originating from South Africa