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Cadaba farinosa
Cadaba farinosa is a 2–8 m (6.6–26.2 ft) high evergreen shrub or small tree that belongs to the caper family. It has simple ovate leaves with entire margins, zygomorphic, spidery, greenish, yellowish, whitish or pinkish flowers, and is covered in powdery hairs or scales, particularly the younger parts. It can be found in a zone from Senegal to India between the desert and the savanna.
This plant can be found in the Sahel and northern Sudanian Savanna between Mauritania and Senegal in the West, along the Red Sea, through the Arabian Peninsula, and the coast of the Indian Ocean all the way to India in the East. It is widespread in Africa, and may grow up to an altitude of 1,600 m (5,200 ft). It is often found on termite mounds and grows together with Maerua species. This species grows in areas with a mean annual precipitation between 200 mm (7.9 in) and 500 mm (20 in), and a temperature of approximately 29 °C (84 °F), and prefers heavy soils, although it also grows on stony scree and sand. The foliage is eaten by black rhinos, buffalos and hartebeests. Butterflies of the genus Colotis feed on the leaves of Capparaceae, including those of Cadaba farinosa.
The wood of the plant is used for fuel. The leaves and young twigs of Cadaba farinosa are edible. In western Africa, leaves are squashed, boiled and eaten as a gruel, sometimes mixed with couscous. In northern Nigeria pounded leaves are mixed with cereals and dried to make irregularly shaped chocolate-brown cake, which is sold on markets called farsa, balambo, baleno, tsawa (in Hausa), or tigiraganda. Macerated flowers are added to dough to make it sweeter. It is used as fodder by different types of husbandry and is one of the species preferred by camels in the North of Kenya. Leaves are reported to contain 15.2–18.2% crude protein, about 60-80% fibre and 7-8% ash. It is also particularly relished by goats which browse its leaves year-round. In traditional medicine in different parts of Africa and India, several parts of the plant are reported to be used, against infections such as of the skin and the intestines, food-poisoning, anthrax, dysenteria, intestinal worms, and against pain such as rheumatism.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cadaba farinosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
