Zaleya pentandra
Zaleya pentandra
Safety & Hazards
The plant is considered to be a dangerous poison in India, where it is believed to be capable of causing diarrhoea, paralysis and death by acute nephritis[ 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/ ]. It is eaten there only as a famine-food, though it is eaten as a vegetable by Arabs and Indians in Somalia[ 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/ ].
Botanical Description
Zaleya pentandra is a semi-succulent, usually prostrate, herb with a stout stem usually growing 8 - 30cm long and more or less woody at the base[ 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/ ]. The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food, though there are conflicting reports over its edibility. It also has local medicinal uses.