Eswatini's Flora - siSwati Names and Uses
Compiled by Chris Long, © December 2005
SiSwati names and uses, arranged by alphabetically by botanical name:
| Ficus umkhiwa, umkhiwane, intfombe, inkhokhokho, | |
| abutilifolia | |
| Medicinal: | Leaves in traditional medicine |
| Food: | Edible fruits but usually infested with insects. The Rock-breaker Fig. |
| benghalensis * (Banyan Tree) intfonja, | |
| bubu (Swazi Fig) ubtfombi, | |
| Cultural: | Widow's headress |
| Medicinal: | Bark an emetic |
| Food: | Edible fruit |
| burkei | |
| Medicinal: | Roots used as post-natal supplement. |
| Food: | Edible fruit. |
| burtt-davyi (Scrambling Fig) uluzi, umthombe, | |
| Food: | Edible fruit. |
| capreifolia (Sandpaper Fig) inkhiwane, | |
| Household: | Handicrafts. Leaves used as sandpaper. |
| Food: | Edible fruit |
| craterostoma (Forest Fig) isihlamfane, umbombe, umthombe, | |
| Food: | Edible fruit |
| glumosa (Mountain Rock Fig) inkhokho lemhlophe, lemhlophe kokhokho, maginyela, magnyea, | |
| Dyes: | Tannin |
| Medicinal: | Bark for general malaise and diarrhoea. |
| Food: | Edible fruit & leafs |
| ingens var. ingens (Redleaved Rock Fig) inkhiwane, | |
| Medicinal: | Latex is a disinfectant and substitutes for iodine. Bark for diarrhoea. |
| Food: | Edible fruit |
| lutea | |
| Household: | Cloth & twine can be made from the bark. |
| Food: | Edible fruit |
| natalensis subsp. natalensis | |
| Fodder: | Fodder |
| Medicinal: | Traditional medicine for gynaecological complaints during pregnancy. |
| Food: | Edible fruit |
| petersii (Common Wild fig) umbombe, umtfombe, | |
| Firewood: | Fuelwood |
| Medicinal: | Used in traditional medicine. Roots used as post-natal supplement. |
| Food: | Edible fruit & leaves |
| polita | |
| Food: | Edible fruit |
| subsp. brevipedunculata | |
| subsp. polita | |
| salicifolia (Wonderbloom Fig) indlaleni, | |
| Food: | Edible fruit. Leaves may be poisonous to cattle. |
| sansibarica | |
| Cultural: | Widow's headdress. |
| Medicinal: | Bark is emetic. |
| Food: | Fruit is edible but bitter. |
| subsp. macrosperma | |
| subsp. sansibarica | |
| stuhlmannii | |
| Food: | Edible fruit |
| sur (Cape Fig) emakhiwa, makhiwa, mkhiwa, umnungwane, | |
| Cultural: | Symbolic of earth & forest. Appeases ancestors. To eat the first fruits ensures the welfare of the family. |
| Firewood: | Firewood - will produce fire by friction. |
| Household: | Handicrafts. Drums. |
| Medicinal: | Root & bark infusions for many ailments. Latex used for burns & septic conjunctivitis |
| Food: | Edible fruit but sweet & insipid. Used for jam. Edible leafs. |
| sycomorus (Sycamore Fig) umkhiwabovane, umkhiwubovana, | |
| Fodder: | Useful fodder for stock and game. |
| Household: | Used for drums. Rope from inner bark |
| Medicinal: | Bark & latex for chest, glandular complaints, diarrhoea & inflamed throats. |
| Food: | Edible fruit & leaves. The biblical Sycamore tree. |
| subsp. gnaphalocarpa | |
| subsp. sycomorus | |
| tremula subsp. tremula (Quiver-leaf Fig) isihlamfane, | |
| Food: | Edible fruit |
| trichopoda (Hippo Fig) umvubu, | |
| Household: | Bark used for twine and plaited rope. |
| Food: | Edible fruit |
| Faurea sicalaba, sisefo, | |
| galpinii | |
| Firewood: | Fuelwood |
| Household: | Furniture |
| macnaughtonii | |
| Timber: | Heavy wood with beautiful grain. |
| Firewood: | Good firewood |
| rochetiana | |
| Household: | Furniture |
| Medicinal: | Root extract used for diarrhoea, ear infections & deworming. |
| saligna | |
| Timber: | Good general purpose timber & for poles. |
| Honey: | Important nectar source for bees. |
| Dyes: | Red dye from wood. Bark used for tannin |
| Firewood: | Fuelwood |
| Household: | Excellent wood for furniture. |
| Medicinal: | Used medicinally. Roots used for deworming. |
| Flemingia | |
| grahamiana (Stain Pod) indzabula luvalo, indzabulaluvalo, | |
| Medicinal: | Roots are used for male impotence & fever reduction. |
| Flacourtia | |
| indica (Governor's Plum) umbadlanga, umtabhala, | |
| Medicinal: | Bark & roots for sore throats & rheumatism. Leaf tonic for asthma. |
| Food: | Edible fruit |
| Fockea | |
| angustifolia | |
| Household: | Soap from shavings |
| Food: | Edible stems. Edible tubers - a water-root in Namibia. |
| edulis | |
| Food: | Huge tubers are edible - a substitute for water melon. |
| Fadogia | |
| homblei (Wild Date) ndhlaleni, | |
| Food: | Fruits are edible. Plant can be poisonous for stock. |
| Felicia | |
| muricata subsp. muricata | |
| Medicinal: | Medicinal for headaches. |
| Fingerhuthia | |
| africana | |
| Fodder: | Fodder & grazing. |
| Festuca | |
| costata (Tussock fescue) lukhasi, | |
| Household: | Making ropes & handicrafts |
| scabra | |
| Fodder: | Natural and cultivated pasture. |
| Freesia | |
| grandiflora | |
| Fodder: | Corms eaten by bushpigs |
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