Salvadora persica L.

Bushy, often sub-scandent, evergreen shrubs, 60 cm-5 m tall; branches long and often drooping, more or less terete, glabrous or occasionally loosely pubescent, the older whitish. Leaves rather thick, minutely pellucid dotted, verrucose, dark to bright green, oblong-elliptic, ovate-oblong to suborbicular, 2.5-5 cm long (sometimes up to 9 cm long) and 1-3.8 cm broad, slightly narrowed to the rounded, mucronate apex and shortly cuneate at the base; petiole 5-10 mm long, patently spreading to arcuate-ascending. Inflorescence of terminal and lateral panicles (the terminal usually overtopping the leaves), with long slender branches, the lateral panicles in the axils of the upper leaves only; flowers small greenish-yellow, on short, about 1 mm long, pedicels. Calyx campanulate, about 2 mm long, shortly 4-lobed, glabrous or very minutely papillose and scaly, occasionally puberulous. Corolla greenish yellow, about 3 mm long; tube short, about 1 mm long; lobes oblong, obtuse and sometimes notched at the apex, cucullate in bud, eventually the upper half reflexing over the rim of the calyx. Stamens 4, inserted in the sinuses on the tube of the corolla, filament usually just over 1 mm long and anther just under 1 mm long. Ovary 1-celled with one erect basal ovule; style very small with an inconspicuous stigma. Fruit a drupe, white tinted rose and red when mature, globose, smooth, about 5 mm diam.; seed solitary, cotyledons large, endosperm none.

A tropical plant. It grows in the dry tropics. It grows in the Sahel. It occurs at low altitudes. It suits high temperatures. Temperatures of 20-30°C annual average are appropriate. It cannot stand frost. It occurs in areas with an annual rainfall of 50-300 mm but also in areas with 1,100 mm. In high rainfall areas it occurs on saline soils. It prefers clay to sandy soils such as on flood plains. It can be in mangroves. It can be used to reclaim salty soils. In Kenya it grows from sea level to 1,500 m altitude. It can grow in arid places.

The ripe fruit are edible when cooked. They are also used to make a drink. The fruit can be dried and stored. The leaves are cooked as a vegetable. They are also used in sauces. The tender shoots and leaves are eaten raw in salads. The seed oil is edible. A fat from the seeds is used as a substitute for vegetable butters in chocolate. The seeds have a spicy taste like mustard. A vegetable salt is derived form the ash of the plant.

Plants can be grown by seeds. Many seeds are produced. Germination is poor due to substances in the fruit flesh. Therefore it is important to remove seeds from the fruit before planting. Plants can be grown in a nursery then transplanted when 3 years old.