Tylosema esculentum
Fabaceae FAMILY

Tylosema esculentum

Tylosema esculentum

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Botanical Description

Tylosema esculentum is a perennial herb or shrub with a tuberous root and prostrate branches that can trail along the ground for 6 metres or more[ 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 plant provides an important part of the diet of the Khoisan people in the Kalahari, where subsistence agriculture is marginal due to drought and low soil fertility[ 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. ]. It is also a delicacy among other peoples in southern Africa[ 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 plant is regarded as having considerable potential as a crop for arid and semi-arid regions, and it is being investigated as a potential crop in several countries[ 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. , 317 Title Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants Publication Author Website http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Terse details of a huge range of useful plants. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical
Native RangeSouthern Africa - Kalahari desert and neighbouring sandy regions.
HabitatLocalized in patches in grassland and wooded grassland vegetation in sandy and limestone (including dolomite) soils, but not on soils developed over granite or basalt[ 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. ].