Euphorbiaceae FAMILY

Acalypha ciliata

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Botanical Description

Acalypha ciliata is an erect, scarcely-branched, annual herb growing up to about 85cm tall[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/ ]. The leaves are sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine. Use of this species for food seems to be diminishing, it being eaten mainly by old people or in times of shortage[ 617 Title Traditional Vegetables in Benin Publication Author Achigan-Dako E. Et al Publisher Darwin Initiative; International Foundation for Science Year 2009 ISBN Description Issued as a PDF on the Internet, it contains basic information on over 250 species of plants used for food in Benin. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical

Native RangeTropical Africa - Mauritania to Ethiopia, south to Namibia and Mozambique; through Arabia to the Indian Subcontinent and Sri Lanka.

HabitatCultivated land and forest shade[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/ ]. Open and wooded grassland; in deciduous and coastal bushland. often in rocky or damp localities; near lakes and on flood plains, at elevations from sea level up to 1,650 metres[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].