SUGAR PLUM

(Upaca kirkiana)

Fruits of sugar plum

Family: Phyllanthaceae

Local names:  Mushuku, umhobohobo.

Sugar plum is a fruit from Africa.  It can be commonly seen growing wild upto an elevation of 1850 m in Tropical Africa from Burundi south to Zimbabwe and Mozambique It is one of those wild growing fruits, which have been selected for domestication.

Descrption:

Small evergreen, much branched tree upto 12 m high.

Leaves alternate, clustered at the end of branches, large 15 cm long, ovate to obovate, dark green, leathery; margin entire, rounded, often distinctly curled from midrib in the shape of a saddle.

Flowers inconspicuous, yellowish, unisexual often but not always, sexes on different trees.

Fruits spherical, fleshy, rusty yellow or orange yellow, 2.5 cm in diameter.

Utilization:

The fruits are edible.  These are collected by local people in large quantities during the season.  The fruits are used in various ways.

            In local medicine, a decoction of sugar plum roots is a remedy for menstrual complaints, syphilis, indigestion, dysentery, infertility and bilharharzia.  It is also said to be a remedy for tuberculosis.

Cultivation:

New trees of sugar plum are being planted under various afforestation and tree planting programmes in Zimbabwe.

            New plants are raised from seed only.