Phyllanthus reticulatus

Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir.

Common names

Baked potato bush (English); kapulula-mbuzi, kapululu (Bemba/Kunda/Nyanja); kabakabala, lungwe, mdyapumbwa, ntanda-nyere, ntanta-nyelele, ntanta-yelele (Nyanja).

The English common name refers to the ‘baked potato’ smell that the flowers give off in the evening. The flowers themselves are small and inconspicuous but they produce a strong, evocative smell that tourists returning from night drives in June/July will recognise.

General description and distinguishing characteristics

A straggly much branched shrub, although elsewhere it sometimes grows as a small tree; the stems are covered with small white dots and the small oval leaves are held in one plane and have prominent venation on the lower surface. The male flowers are borne on slender stalks, the female occur singly or in pairs on separate shrubs in the axils of the leaves. Flowering occurs in the winter and the small whitish fruits ripen in spring. The flowers are heavily scented with a potato-like smell.

Can be mistaken for Flueggea virosa

Phyllanthus muellerianus (Kuntze) Exell also found in similar habitat

Range and habitat

Valley riverine fringe woodland and thicket. Also in Mopane woodland on sand. Widespread in riverine areas where it sometimes forms thickets. Occurs from tropical Africa to the Northern Cape.