Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Ziziphus mucronata - Buffalo Thorn

Edible parts: Fruit, Seeds - coffee, Leaves

A shrub or small tree. It grows up to 9 m tall. It has many sharp thorns. It has spreading and often drooping branches. The trunk is often crooked. The leaves are simple and alternate. They are shiny and have 3 veins from the base. The leaves are 2.5 -8 cm long by 1.9-8 cm wide. Leaves and young plant parts can be hairy. There can be thorns at the nodes. The flowers are small and green. The flowers are in small clusters in the axils of leaves. The fruit are round. They are red and shiny. There is a sweet mealy pulp around a large seed.

A tropical plant. It grows in the lowlands and the highlands. It grows in tropical Africa. It grows in the Sahel. It grows in open scrub. It can grow on a range of soils. It is often on embankments and termite mounds. In East Africa it grows up to 2,000 m above sea level. It is drought resistant. It can grow in arid places. It grows in Miombo woodland. Mt Lofty Botanical Gardens. Melbourne Botanical gardens. It suits hardiness zones 7-9.