Capparaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Maerua crassifolia

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree

GrowthSlow

A plant of the arid tropics and subtropics, it grows in areas where the mean annual rainfall can be as low as 100 - 400mm and the dry season can be up to 11 months long^[1]. Requires a sunny position. Found in the wild in dry, sandy soils^[1]. Established plants are extremely drought tolerant^[1].

Propagation

Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Maerua+crassifolia>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]Trees and Shrubs of the Sahel. Their Characteristics and Uses. — von Maydell H. · Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit; Germany · 1990 · ISBN 3-8236-1198-4 ↩︎A well-researched book, usually with more than one photograph of each species and good information on the plant and its uses.
[2]African Flowering Plants Database — Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques. · http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php ↩︎Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
[3]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
[4]The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. — Burkil. H. M. · Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. · 1985 - 2004 ↩︎Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/