Ekarukei (Vitex madiensis)

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

Found in tropical Africa, Vitex madiensis is a shrub or small tree about 5 m tall with a massive underground woody rootstock. The fruits, oblong to round and purple-black, are edible with a sweet flavor. The leaves and roots have medicinal uses but no further details are mentioned in the report. Bark extracts are used in the treatment of skin diseases and toothache. Essential oil from the leaves has a sweet and penetrating fragrance.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Fruit

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer

Flavor & Culinary Uses

Sweet and mealy. — Fruit - raw or cooked.; The thin pulp clings to the stone, which contains 3 to 4 seeds.; The purple-black fruit is about the size of an olive.; The oblong-rounded fruit is about 25mm long and 10 - 20mm wide.

Habitat & North American Range

Combretum, Terminalia and Brachystegia woodland and flood pans with Brachystegia; grassland, wooded grassland or dense woodlands; at elevations from 1,000 - 1,800 metres. (Zone 10)