Grewia villosa (Bekele-Tesemma, 2007)
| Grewia villosa (Bekele-Tesemma, 2007) |
Grewia villosa Tiliaceae Indigenous
Common names
- Amargna: Lenquata
- Borenagna: Ogumdi, Morudo, Moorodah
- Oromugna: Ogomdi
Ecology
A shrub of the arid areas in Africa and India. In Africa, it is found from the Cape Verde Islands and Senegal in West Africa to the Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia, further east to India and south to South Africa, often on river banks liable to flooding, or on stony ground, in the shade of larger trees. Performs well in Moist and Wet Kolla and Weyna Dega agroclimatic zones in nearly all regions, 400–1,800 m.
Uses
Firewood, poles, tool handles, walking sticks, bows, arrows, food (fruit), medicine (roots, bark), fodder (leaves), fibre (bark).
Description
A deciduous shrub about 3 m with very distinctive leaves, young parts covered with pale silky hairs, branches purple-brown.
- LEAVES: Almost round to 12 cm across, on stalks to 4 cm; paler below and more hairy, 5 veins clearly seen.
- FLOWERS: Pink, turning yellow with age, in small clusters without stalks opposite leaves.
- FRUIT: Usually single, soft and hairy when ripe, red‑brown, about 1 cm across, 1–2 hard seeds within each nut.
Propagation
Seedlings, direct sowing at site. Grewias generally reproduce well naturally if protected from grazing and fire.
Seed
16,000–17,000 seed per kg.
- Treatment: Soak in cold water for 12 hours. Germination is good and completed after 6 weeks.
- Storage: Can be stored for a year if kept cool in airtight containers.
Management
Slow growing.
Remarks
A much-liked sweet fruit.
