Grewia damine
Grewia damine
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
Grewia damine is a plant of the semi-arid tropics, where it is found at elevations from 800 - 2,000 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 28°c, but can tolerate 15 - 35°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 400 - 900mm, but tolerates 200 - 1,100mm[1]. The plant is often found on sandy and rocky soils and red clay soils in the wild[2]. Prefers a pH in the range .5 - 7, tolerating 5 - 7.5[1]. Established plants are drought tolerant[2]. A slow growing plant[2]. In some areas, such as Kenya, the plant can flower virtually all year round[2]. An extremely variable plant, it hybridizes freely with Grewia monticola in the wild[2]. The plant coppices well and also produces suckers[2, 3].
Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe[3]. Stored seed has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing in order to speed up and improve germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!), allowing the mix to cool somewhat and then leaving it in a warm place to soak for 12 - 24 hours. Sow the seeds in situ or in a nursery seedbed or trays - do not allow the compost to become dry. Germination and early growth are usually quite quick. Cuttings. Those taken with a heel root more easily, with a success rate of up to 60%[2]. Root suckers. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Grewia+damine>
Pollinators
Bees
References
- [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
- [2]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
- [3]Edible Wild Plants of Tanzania — Ruffo, C.K.: Birnie, A. & Tengnas, B. · Regional Land Management Unit; Nairobi. · 2002 · ISBN 9966-896-60-0 ↩︎A very well presented, simple guide to growing and utilizing wild food plants in Tanzania, with line drawings of each plant, a description, habitat and range, non-food as well as food uses, plus basic information on growing the plants.
- [4]Useful Plants of Ghana — Abbiw D.K. · The Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew, UK · 1990 · ISBN 1-85339-043-7 ↩︎The book is ordered by usage, rather than by plant. It makes it easier to look up individual uses, but rather difficult to collate all the uses of each species. Otherwise, a well-researched book.
- [5]Flora of Pakistan — http://www.efloras.org ↩︎As of 2006, there is not much information on habitats available, but it is being developed and promises to be an excellent resource.
- [6]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.