African medlar

African medlar

African medlar is a traditional food plant that has deciduous shrub or small tree with a varying height from 3-7 m, based on the habitat. Unlike other fruit types, it is not found all year long. The edible fruit has a pleasant sweet-sour, mealy taste similar to apple.

The African medlar is from the Rubiaceae family. Native to the southern and eastern Afrotropics, its fruits have a pleasant apple like flavor. The corolla being dropped earlier, they are carried on opposite and axillary cymes. The tree produces a velvety like flower that are just about 4 mm long and 6 mm wide. They grow into unevenly- shaped, lustrous, tan-colored plums that are full of soft fleshy pulp and fairly large seeds.