Maerua edulis (Gilg & Gilg-ben.) Dewolf

Spreading shrub or bushy woody herb, 3–30 dm. tall, with a persistent woody thickened root, glabrous.. Leaves petiolate, simple; blade broadly lanceolate, ovate or suborbicular, rounded to acute, mucronate at the apex, rounded at the base, generally prominently 3–5-nerved; petiole 5–7 mm. long.. Flowers many, borne singly in the upper leaf-axils; pedicels 1–2.5 cm. long.. Sepals 3–4, elliptic, 9–13 mm. long; receptacle 2–4 mm. long.. Petals 0.. Androphore about 1 mm. longer than the receptacle; stamens 1.5–3 cm. long.. Gynophore 1.9–3 cm. long, generally recurved at maturity; ovary spindle-shaped, 4–6 mm. long.. Fruits globose, 1.5–2 cm. in diameter, yellow or orange, 1–4-seeded.

Deciduous or semi-evergreen bushland, bushed grassland, wooded grassland, often near seasonal rivers or lakes, conspicuous in burnt grassland, regenerating quickly from its woody rootstock, at elevations from sea level to 1,800 metres.

The fruit are boiled and eaten. The water is thrown away. Caution: The fruit probably have poisonous elements.

Can be grown by seedlings.