Black Plum (Vitex doniana)

Family: Lamiaceae | Edibility: Choice Edible (4/5)

Vitex doniana, or commonly known as Black Plum, is a deciduous flowering tree growing up to 20 m in height in tropical Africa. It has a heavy rounded crown. The clear trunk can be up to 1m across and is covered with pale brown or gray white bark that has long cracks sticky ridges. The leathery and shiny leaves are opposite and arranged like the fingers on a hand with five leaflets.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Fruit, Berries, Nuts/Seeds, Leaves

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring, Winter

Flavor & Culinary Uses

sweet flavour with a mealy texture, it tastes a bit like prunes. — Fruit - raw, cooked, candied etc.; A sweet flavour with a mealy texture, it tastes a bit like prunes.; It contains vitamins A and B and can be made into a jam.; The jam is of good quality, somewhat like plum jam but better for spreading.

Habitat & North American Range

Dense forest, wooded savannah, coastal savannah, galleried soudanian and riverine thickets. A deciduous forest tree of coastal woodland, riverine and lowland forests and deciduous woodland, extending as high as upland grassland. (Zone 10)