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Ricinodendron rautanenii (Euphorbiaceae): Zambezian wild food plant for all seasons

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Abstract

Ricinodendron rautanenii provides an easily stored sweet-tasting fruit containing a nut whose seed is rich in fat, protein, and minerals. Its distribution is largely confined to the Zambezian phytogeographical region of Africa, centered on the nutrient- poor Kalahari sands of southeastern Angola and northeastern Namibia. There the estimates of annual nut production range from ca. 250 kg/ha to 800 kg/ ha. In this subhumid summer-rain climate this tree flowers in late spring and the fruits fall in autumn. A significant proportion of the nuts are still edible after having lain on the ground for a year. The nuts were traditionally a staple food for the subregion’s rural populations.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, Baldwin Hall, University of Georgia, 30602, Athens, GA

    Charles R. Peters

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Peters, C.R. Ricinodendron rautanenii (Euphorbiaceae): Zambezian wild food plant for all seasons. Econ Bot 41, 494–502 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02908143

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