Gnetum africanum

Gnetum africanum
Gnetum africanum, from the coastal rainforest of Cameroon.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Gnetophyta
Order: Gnetales
Family: Gnetaceae
Genus: Gnetum
Species:
G. africanum
Binomial name
Gnetum africanum
Synonyms[2]
  • Thoa africana (Welw.) Doweld

Gnetum africanum (eru or African jointfir) is a vine gymnosperm species found natively throughout tropical Africa.[3][4][5] Though bearing leaves, the genus Gnetum are gymnosperms, related to pine and other conifers.[6][7][8]

Gnetum africanum has numerous common names and is grown in various countries across Africa, including: Cameroon (Eru, okok, m’fumbua, or fumbua), Angola (KoKo), Nigeria (ukazi, "okazi", or afang), Gabon (Nkumu), Central African Republic (KoKo), Congo (KoKo), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (m’fumbua or fumbua). Gnetum africanum has also been referred to as a form of ‘wild spinach’ in English.[9]

  1. ^ Lakeman Fraser, P.; Bachman, S. (2011). "Gnetum africanum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011: e.T194958A8928340. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T194958A8928340.en. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Gnetum africanum Welw". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Gnetum africanum". Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  4. ^ Mialoundama, F (1993). "Nutritional and socio-economic value of Gnetum leaves in Central African forest". In Hladik, C.M. (ed.). Tropical forests, people and food : biocultural interactions and applications to development. Man and the biosphere. Vol. 13. Paris : UNESCO; Carnforth, UK; Pearl River, N.Y. : Parthenon Pub. Group. pp. 177–181. ISBN 1850703809.
  5. ^ "Styslinger, Matt. "Eru: Growing Popularity of Cameroon's Nutritious Wild Vine." Worldwatch Institute: Nourishing the Planet". Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
  6. ^ Chaw, Shu-Miaw, Christopher L. Parkinson, Yuchang Cheng, Thomas M. Vincent, and Jeffrey D. Palmer. 2000. Seed plant phylogeny inferred from all three plant genomes: Monophyly of extant gymnosperms and origin of Gnetales from conifers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97: 4086-4091
  7. ^ Bowe, L. Michelle, Gwénaële Coat, and Claude W. dePamphilis. 2000. Phylogeny of seed plants based on all three genomic compartments: Extant gymnosperms are monophyletic and Gnetales' closest relatives are conifers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97: 4092-4097.
  8. ^ Soltis, Douglas E., Pamela S. Soltis and Michael J. Zanis. 2002. Phylogeny of seed plants based on evidence from eight genes Archived 2012-07-10 at archive.today. American Journal of Botany 89: 1670-1681.
  9. ^ [Ali, F., Assanta, M.A., and Robert, C. Gnetum Africanum: A Wild Food Plant from the African Forest with Many Nutritional and Medicinal Purposes, Journal of Medicinal Food 14, no.11 (2011): 1289-1297. [DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2010.0327]