Scientific name: Anisophyllea boehmii
English name:
Local name: Mfungo
General information
Anisophyllea boehmii is an untidy evergreen or semi-evergreen tree with a rounded, heavy crown; it can grow up to 16 metres tall with a short and usually crooked bole. The tree is harvested from the wild for local use of its edible fruit and useful wood. The fruit is sometimes sold in local markets. The ellipsoid, plum-coloured fruit is about 35mm long and 20mm in diameter. It has a pale-yellow flesh that contains a hard stone around a single seed. The tree thrives in sandy soils, though it can succeed in a range of soil types from sandy loams to sandy clay loams and grows in areas where the mean annual rainfall is in the range 800 - 1,000mm.
Human benefits
The fully ripe fruits are sweet and are often eaten by travellers to quench the thirst and ease hunger. Ash from the wood is used as an insecticide for stalk borers. The wood is used for tool handles and poles and used for fuel.