Bridelia cathartica

Bridelia cathartica G. Bertol.

Common names

Blue sweetberry, knobbly Bridelia (English); kalamba-bwato; mukunta-mpele, munwena-mensyi, musangula, ndyaba-temi (Bemba); kambulunje, kamutuluche, mkuzya-ndola, mlumila, mpuzela-manzi, mseka-mano, msimisi, kausenga, mbalambala, mpungulira, mtanda-nyerere, napala-pala, tanta-nyele, msimsi, mulumira (Nyanja).

General description and distinguishing characteristics

A shrub or small tree up to 5 m in height but usually somewhat smaller, Bridelia cathartica is most easily recognised by its ‘knobbly’, zig zag branchlets. Bark brown or grey, smooth. Branchlets zig zag, with axillary flower buds, flowers or fruits giving a knobbly appearance. Leaves simple, alternate, elliptic to oblong, 3-9 x 1.5-4.5 cm. The leaves are hairless, yellowish to mid-green, brittle-textured with curled under margins. Petiole short. Flowers small, inconspicuous, greenish yellow, in the axils of the leaves (December-April). Fruits ellipsoid, up to 9 x 7 mm, resinous, black when mature, edible (June-August).

Two other species of Bridelia are found at higher altitudes in the Muchinga Escarpment. Bridelia duvigneaudii is found in miombo woodland, and Bridelia micrantha is found along escarpment streams. Neither can be easily confused with B. cathartica.

Range and habitat

Bridelia cathartica subsp. melanthesoides occurs throughout the Zambezian region and extends northwards into East Africa and southwards to South Africa and Swaziland. In the valley it is found in Combretum-Terminalia-Diospyros wooded grassland and mopane woodland on low interfluves in dissected terrain or on flat, poorly drained soils.