| Botanical name |
Ziziphus mucronata |
| Other names |
Buffalo thorn, juba plant (Herman Charles Bosman), blinkblaar wag-'n-bietjie (Afrikaans); mokgalo (Tswana); umphafa (Zulu & Xhosa) |
| Family |
Rhamnaceae |
| Dimensions |
A medium sized, deciduous tree up to 9 m in height and with spreading branches and much lateral development |
| Description of stem |
Dark grey, rough bark, fissured into small portions on mature stems, lighter and smooth on young branches that start off green; heavily spined by pairs of characteristically different spines, one being straight, the other curved; in older trees the spines are markedly fewer to absent |
| Description of leaves |
Shiny (above, duller and sometimes hairy below), simple, ovate, alternate and asymmetric leaves, variable in size; three-veined from the base; leaf edge finely toothed close to the apex |
| Description of flowers |
Small, yellowish green, clusters in leaf axils, appear during summer |
| Desciption of seed/fruit |
Spherical, green, turning reddish brown, remains on the tree into winter when the leaves have fallen; thin layer of edible pulp around the hard seed |
| Description of roots |
|
| Variation |
|
| Propagation and cultivation |
Grows easily from seed |
| Tolerances |
Survives as a shrub in areas not quite conducive to its full flourishing |
| Uses |
Seeds are edible (fresh, green or dry, mature), made into a porridge and even a liquor by some indigenous populations; also roasted into a (poor) coffee substitute; usually a supplementary or famine food; Coates Palgrave refers to magico-medicinal uses, including use in making rosaries; a poultice of ground and baked root is reported for use in alleviating pains; also used in treating boils, skin infections, lumbago, dysentry, tubercular gland swellings, coughs and chest complaints (Coates Palgrave); the fallen leaves are often preferred winter grazing for cattle and some game |
| Ecological rarity |
Common |
| Pests and diseases |
Rarely some fungal growths |
| Other |
Herman Charles Bosman describes it, the Juba plant's seed, as a base for an aphrodysiac, to be ingested by the target person at midnight |
| Location |
Wide range of habitats, including woodland, bushveld, along river banks |
| Distribution (SA provinces) |
Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo |
| Country |
South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, further north into Ethiopia |
