Gnetum africanum

Botanical Description

Gnetum africanum is an evergreen climbing shrub producing twining, woody stems that can be 12 metres or more long from a tuberous rootstock[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The leaves form a very popular and highly valued vegetable in many parts of Africa - they are widely harvested from the wild and commonly sold in local markets, where they are often a major item of trade[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description 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/ ]. Somewhat thinner than the leaves of the closely related G. Buchholzianum, they fetch a lower price in the markets than that species[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The leaves are also exported to ethnic markets in various countries around the world. Current harvesting practices are unsustainable, and so research is being carried out into cultivating the plant commercially. Early trials are promising, with the plant proving easy to propagate. The overall rate of harvesting of wild populations is not known, but appears to be increasing. Despite the large range of G. Africanum, the harvesting of wild populations is considered a major threat and a rating of Near Threatened is given. The increased harvesting of this species, if unchecked and unmanaged, could lead to a drastic reduction in population size which would then meet the thresholds for a threatened category. The plant is classified as 'Near Threatened' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].