Ximenia americana

Ximenia americana L.

Common names

Blue sour plum (English); mulebe, kamulebe (Bemba/Kunda/Nyanja); ntengele, mtengele (Nyanja); ntengeni (Tumbuka)

General description and distinguishing characteristics

A small shrub, scrambler or small tree up to 6 m tall, characterised by its spines, grey-green leaves and yellow, edible ‘plums’. Bark pale grey and smooth, and the spiny branchlets are purple-red, covered with a waxy bloom. Leaves simple, alternate, up to 5 x 3 cm, elliptic, ovate-elliptic or oblong-oblanceolate. Leaf is leathery, glaucous grey-green, and without hairs. Margin is entire. When crushed, young leaves smell of almonds. Flowers small, greenish-white or pink, fragrant, produced in branched inflorescences on stalks (January –March or July-October). Fruit a yellow or speckled red plum-like drupe with a single seed. The fruits are produced about two months after the flowers and are edible with a tart, sour flavour.

Ximenia americana is very similar to Ximenia caffra, which also occurs in the valley. The flowers of X. americana are produced in branched heads, while those of X. caffra are produced singly or in small, single stemmed groups. In addition, the leaves of X. caffra are larger and greener than those of X. americana, and in X. caffra var. caffra are densely hairy.

Range and habitat

Ximenia americana is found throughout the tropics and sub-tropics in Africa, Asia, South America and Australasia. In the Luangwa Valley, it is most commonly seen in Combretum-Terminalia-Diospyros wooded grassland, Mopane woodland and Mopane scrub.