Kedrostis leloja (PROTA)
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Introduction |
| General importance |  
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| Geographic coverage Africa |
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| Geographic coverage World |
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| Fruit |
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| Vegetable |
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| Ornamental |
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| Forage / feed |
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| Food security |
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Kedrostis leloja (J.F.Gmel.) C.Jeffrey
- Protologue: Kew Bull. 15: 354 (1962).
- Family: Cucurbitaceae
- Chromosome number:
Synonyms
Kedrostis hirtella (Naudin) Cogn. (1881).
Vernacular names
Origin and geographic distribution
Kedrostis leloja occurs throughout tropical Africa, from Senegal east to Ethiopia and Somalia, and south to South Africa; it is also found in Yemen.
Uses
In Tanzania the leaves of Kedrostis leloja are eaten as a vegetable. They are chopped and cooked, and coconut milk or pounded groundnuts are added. The ripe fleshy fruits are eaten raw, especially by children. The plant is used for fodder.
Properties
Botany
Perennial, monoecious scandent herb, with tuberous rootstock; stem up to 2 m long, with bristly hairs; tendrils simple, sometimes bifid. Leaves alternate, simple; petiole 2–11 cm long; blade broadly ovate in outline, up to 10.5 cm × 13 cm, usually palmately 3–5-lobed, cordate at base, lobes obovate to triangular or elliptical. Flowers unisexual, regular, 5-merous; male flowers in pedunculate racemes, up to 30-flowered, pedicel up to 11 mm long, receptacle c. 3 mm long, sepals lanceolate, up to 5 mm long, petals 3.5–5 mm long, yellowish or greenish, stamens 5; female flowers solitary, shortly pedicellate, ovary inferior, shortly hairy. Fruit a conical to fusiform capsule 5–7.5 cm × 2 cm, more or less truncate at base, orange to scarlet when mature, dehiscing longitudinally. Seeds subglobose, up to 5 mm long, smooth.
Kedrostis is placed in the tribe Melothrieae and is related to Corallocarpus. The name Kedrostis leloja has been frequently misapplied to Kedrostis abdallai A.Zimm., a closely related species known from Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania. It is very possible that the uses recorded refer to the latter or both species. Kedrostis abdallai differs in its sparsely hairy stems, fruits tapered towards the base and shorter (1.5–3 mm) petals in male flowers.
Description
Other botanical information
Growth and development
Ecology
Kedrostis leloja occurs in deciduous woodland and bushland, up to 1650 m altitude.
Propagation and planting
Management
Leaves and fruits of Kedrostis leloja are exclusively collected from the wild, but it can be easily propagated by seed. It is locally considered a weed of arable land.
Harvesting
Handling after harvest
Genetic resources
Kedrostis leloja is widely distributed and not in danger of genetic erosion.
Prospects
The use of Kedrostis leloja is very localized and is likely to continue to be restricted. Research on its phytochemistry and nutritional value are desirable.
Major references
- Berhaut, J., 1975. Flore illustrée du Sénégal. Dicotylédones. Volume 3. Connaracées à Euphorbiacées. Gouvernement du Sénégal, Ministère du Développement Rural et de l’Hydraulique, Direction des Eaux et Forêts, Dakar, Senegal. 634 pp.
- Jeffrey, C., 1995. Cucurbitaceae. In: Edwards, S., Mesfin Tadesse & Hedberg, I. (Editors). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Volume 2, part 2. Canellaceae to Euphorbiaceae. The National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Department of Systematic Botany, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. pp. 17–59.
- Jeffrey, C. & Thulin, M., 1993. Cucurbitaceae. In: Thulin, M. (Editor). Flora of Somalia. Volume 1. Pteridophyta; Gymnospermae; Angiospermae (Annonaceae-Fabaceae). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. pp. 216–240.
- Ruffo, C.K., Birnie, A. & Tengnäs, B., 2002. Edible wild plants of Tanzania. Technical Handbook No 27. Regional Land Management Unit/ SIDA, Nairobi, Kenya. 766 pp.
Other references
- Jeffrey, C., 1967. Cucurbitaceae. In: Milne-Redhead, E. & Polhill, R.M. (Editors). Flora of Tropical East Africa. Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations, London, United Kingdom. 157 pp.
Author(s)
- C.H. Bosch
PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
Correct citation of this article
Bosch, C.H., 2004. Kedrostis leloja (Forssk. ex J.F.Gmel.) C.Jeffrey. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>.
Accessed 6 March 2025.
- See the Prota4U database.
