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Ampelocissus africana

Botanic Family

Vitaceae

Author

(Loureiro) Merrill

Common Names

• Igombole (Kisafwa)
• Redibo (Kouka)
• Goulou-goulou (Kotoko)

Geographical Habitats

• Benin
• Botswana
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Guinea Bissau
• Ivory Coast
• Kenya
• Liberia
• Malawi
• Mali
• Mozambique
• Caprivi Strip - Namibia
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Rwanda
• Senegal
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Tanzania
• Uganda
• Zaire
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

Natural Habitats

• Moist forest
• waterside
• coastal
• riverside. Edible fruits
• tuber used as a compress to reduce swelling. Roots boiled & used for stomach pains

Flowering Times

• Jan
• Feb
• Mar
• May
• Jun
• Jul
• Aug
• Oct
• Nov
• Dec

Fruiting Times

• Feb
• Mar
• Apr
• May
• Jul
• Sep
• Dec

Liana to 6m, sometimes prostrate, with tendrils, young shoots densely pubescent, reddish striated stems. Entire or 3-5 lobed mucronate-toothed coriaceous leaves to 200mm x 250mm glabrous or densely densely tomentose when young both surfaces. Axillary or lateral cymes or panicles to 100mm long, flowers cream to purple 3mm diameter, 4-5 lobed calyx 2mm across, 4-5 green, pale yellowm reddish-0brown or bright red petals to 2mm long. Black fruit 10mm diameter .

Further References

• Sturtevant 1919?
• Mobot
• Adansonia
• Botanicus
• FZ
• The Plant List
• FOTA
• FTEA