Manilkara mochisia
| Milkberry (Manilkara mochisia) | |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Manilkara mochisia [1] |
| Common names | Milkberry; Lowveld milkberry |
| Genus | Manilkara [2] |
| Family | Sapotaceae [2] |
| Order | Ericales |
| Native range | Eastern and southern Africa, in seasonally dry tropical habitats [1] |
| Habit | Shrub or small-to-medium tree, 3–20 m [3] |
| Fruit | Yellow when ripe, with soft red-to-crimson pulp and 1–3 hard seeds [4] |
Manilkara mochisia is an accepted species of Sapotaceae native to eastern and southern Africa. It is a shrub or small-to-medium tree of seasonally dry bushland, thickets, savannah woodland and scrub. The common names milkberry and Lowveld milkberry are also used for it. [1] [2]
Description[edit | edit source]
The plant is usually described as a 3–20 m shrub or tree with low branching, arching or spreading branches, and a spreading crown. The leathery leaves form terminal and lateral rosettes. Flowers are axillary and cream, white, or yellow-green. [3] [5]
Its recorded habitats include dry deciduous bushland and grassland, dry watercourses, hot savannah woodland, thickets and scrub. Leaf habit differs between regional treatments: Flora of Tropical East Africa describes the species as deciduous, while the Flora Zambesiaca treatment presented by Kew describes it as evergreen. This difference is best treated as source- or region-specific rather than as one uniform leafing pattern across the range. The plant also occurs on termite mounds and on sandy or light red clay soils, with black-cotton soils noted in one regional account. Reported altitude limits differ among regions, extending from lowland sites to about 1,200 m in Kenya and about 2,100 m in Tanzania and southern African records. [1] [3] [4] [5]
Cultivation[edit | edit source]
Soil and water[edit | edit source]
The recorded settings include seasonally dry sites, dry watercourses, termite mounds, sandy soils, light red clay and, locally, black-cotton soils. These habitats indicate a plant that can experience a pronounced dry period; as a habitat-based inference, a trial planting should favor drainage and seasonal drying rather than permanently saturated ground. [3] [4] [5]
Sun and humidity[edit | edit source]
Manilkara mochisia grows in dry bushland, thickets and savannah woodland rather than in permanently humid forest. A bright, airy site is a habitat-based starting point for cultivation. [1] [5]
Seasonal changes[edit | edit source]
Leaf habit is not uniform across the examined regional treatments: the Kenya account describes dry deciduous bushland, while the Flora Zambesiaca treatment presented by Kew describes the species as evergreen. Flowering is recorded in November–December in parts of coastal and eastern Kenya, in May at a Machakos site, and in October–December in Zimbabwe. These source- and region-specific records should not be collapsed into a single annual leafing or flowering calendar. [1] [3] [5]
Propagation[edit | edit source]
Seedling propagation is documented. Untreated seed germinated at about 95% after three weeks in both Kenyan and Tanzanian tree-manual accounts. The Kenyan account gives approximately 3,500–4,000 seeds per kilogram; the Tanzanian account records viability for at least one year when seed is kept dry. These figures are regional records rather than a universal germination guarantee. [3] [4]
The Kenyan account describes faster young growth followed by slow mature growth and notes that early weeding is useful. Its observation that a tree can reach 10 m within its first 10 years belongs to the reported management context and should not be treated as a general schedule for every site. [3]
Flowering, fruiting, and harvest[edit | edit source]
The flowers are axillary and range from cream-yellow to white or greenish yellow. Regional flowering records span May and October–December, reflecting variation across the species' range. [3] [5]
Ripe fruit is yellow, rounded to ovoid, and fleshy. Reported maximum size varies by regional account, from about 1.8 cm to 2.5 cm. The soft pulp is red to crimson and surrounds one to three hard, dark-brown or blackish seeds. [3] [4] [1]
Fruit and uses[edit | edit source]
The ripe pulp is described as soft, juicy and sweet, and is eaten raw. The hard seeds are discarded. [6] [3]