''Syzygium guineense'' ( bm, Kokisa) is a leafy forest tree of the family
Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pÅhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...
, found in many parts of
Africa both wild and domesticated. Both its fruits and leaves are edible; the pulp and the fruit skin are sucked and the seed discarded. It is sometimes called "waterberry", but this may also refer to other species of ''
Syzygium''.
''Syzygium guineense'' is a highly variable species, leading to debate concerning its taxonomy, including its subspecies.
Frank White lists four subspecies: ''afromontanum'', ''barotsense'', ''guineense'', and ''huillense'', the last of which is a
suffrutex
A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...
. However, many other subspecies and varieties have been proposed.
Its height is usually between 10 and 15 meters, but some specimens have been found as tall as 25 meters. The trunk is broad and fluted and the crown rounded and heavy, with a bark that is smooth when young, but becomes rough and black with age. The branches are dropping, the stems are thick and angular. The young leaves are purple-red in color, but as they mature their color becomes dark green; the leaves in general are shiny and smooth on both surfaces, with a tip that is long but rounded, on a short grooved stalk. The flowers of ''S. guineense'' have white, showy stamens, in dense branched heads 10 centimeters across, yielding a honey-sweet smell that attracts many insects.
In southern
Ethiopia ''S. guineense'' is a much-appreciated shade tree for both the homestead and the home garden. Wild forms occur from sea level to an altitude of 2,100 meters. It prefers moist soils with a high water table beside rivers, but this species will also grow in open woodland. It is considered a
famine food, eaten by
subsistence farmers
Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...
when their crops fail.
[Yves Guinand and Dechassa Lemessa]
"Wild-Food Plants in Southern Ethiopia: Reflections on the role of 'famine-foods' at a time of drought"
UN-OCHA Report, March 2000 (accessed 15 January 2009)
References
External links
Afromontane flora
Fruits originating in Africa
Trees of Africa
guineense
{{Myrtaceae-stub