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Bridelia cathartica

Botanic Family

Phyllanthaceae

Author

G. Bertoloni

Common Names

• Blue Sweetberry
• Blousoetbessie
• Mpunguu (Kipare-Gonja)

Geographical Habitats

• Angola
• Botswana
• Ethiopia
• Kenya
• Malawi
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Somalia
• Cape Province
• Natal
• Northern Provinces - South Africa
• Sudan
• Swaziland
• Tanzania
• Zaire
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

Natural Habitats

• Forest
• forest margins
• sand forest
• riverine thickets.

Flowering Times

• Mar
• Apr
• May (Tanzania)

Fruiting Times

• Jul (Tanzania)

Scrambling shrub or small tree to 7m, pubescent young shoots. Glabrescent leaves 120mm x 70mm, glabrous above, pubescent on nerves beneath. Flowers in axillary clusters, very small, greenish to yellowish, sweetly scented male flowers with glabrous sepals to 2mm x 1.5mm & slightly toothed petal to 1mm x 1mm, female flowers with glabrous sepals to 2mm x 1.5mm & clawed petals to 1mm x1mm with 3 lobes to 1mm. Fruit a berry 11mm x 10mm, purple-red ripening black.

Fruit has medicinal uses

Further References

• Mobot
• The Plant List 2
• FOTA
• Kew
• FZ