Eswatini's Flora - siSwati Names and Uses
Compiled by Chris Long, © December 2005
SiSwati names and uses, arranged by alphabetically by botanical name:
| Thilachium | |
| africanum (Cucumber Bush) vuma, | |
| Medicinal: | Roots are medicinal. |
| Food: | Edible fruit. |
| Trichocladus | |
| ellipticus subsp. ellipticus (White Witch-hazel) umgqonci, | |
| Firewood: | Excellent firewood. |
| grandiflorus (Green Witch-hazel) lugabavu, ugabavu, | |
| Tylosema | |
| fassoglense (Marama Bean) khubakhulu, | |
| Medicinal: | Roots & bark are medicinal. |
| Food: | Edible nuts & tubers |
| Tephrosia | |
| elongata var. elongata (Orange Tephrosia) isiwisa, | |
| Medicinal: | Emetic to cleanse stomach |
| grandiflora | |
| Insecticidal: | An insecticide. & fish poison. |
| Medicinal: | Medicinal for chest ailments. |
| macropoda (Creeping Tephrosia) ilozane, | |
| Insecticidal: | Fish poison. |
| Medicinal: | Chest ailments, fevers, lice & internal parasites. |
| var. diffusa | |
| var. macropoda | |
| purpurea (Silver Tephrosia) ilozane, | |
| Insecticidal: | To kill vermin on people and animals |
| subsp. altissima | |
| subsp. leptostachya var. leptostachya | |
| subsp. leptostachya var. pubescens | |
| subsp. purpurea | |
| Tribulus | |
| terrestris var. terrestris (Devil-thorns) inkunzane, | |
| Fodder: | Weed but a valuable fodder in the Karoo. Poisonous when wilted. |
| Medicinal: | Fruits for genitourinary ailments, incontinence & kidney stones. |
| Toddalia | |
| asiatica | |
| Food: | Edible fruit with a sharp taste. |
| Teclea | |
| gerrardii (Zulu Cherry-orange) umbotane, | |
| Medicinal: | Roots used for stomach ache. |
| natalensis (Slender Cherry-orange) umbotane, | |
| Firewood: | Fuelwood. |
| pilosa (Winged Cherry-orange) lugina, ugina, | |
| Toona | |
| ciliata * | |
| Timber: | Valuable wood with many uses. |
| Turraea | |
| floribunda (Honeysuckle Tree) inkunzana, inkunzane, umdlozana, | |
| Cultural: | Root & bark to induce trance when divining. Overdose is poisonous. |
| Medicinal: | Bark & root for rheumatism, dropsy & heart problems. |
| Food: | Pick edible fruit before birds get it. |
| obtusifolia (Small Honeysuckle Tree) amazulu, ikunzi embomvana, inkunzi, umhlatholana, | |
| Medicinal: | Crushed leaves used as enema. Roots and leaves for back pain. |
| Trichilia umkhuhlu, | |
| dregeana | |
| Household: | Dishes, headrests & furniture made from the pale pink wood. |
| Medicinal: | Bark, seeds & leaves widely used medicinally. |
| Food: | Seeds rich in fat and used in cooking. |
| emetica subsp. emetica (Natal Mahogany) mkhudlu, mkuhlu, umhubhulu, | |
| Timber: | Timber |
| Dyes: | A pink dye from the bark |
| Fodder: | Fodder |
| Firewood: | Firewood |
| Household: | Soap, cosmetics & furniture polish made from seed oil. Wood used for handicrafts, furniture, shelving and canoes. |
| Medicinal: | Bark yields an emetic purgative for lumbago, & haematuria. Seed oil taken for rheumatism. Fruit used for wounds. Root & bark for pregnancy oedema. Leaves in the bed induce sleep. |
| Food: | Edible fruit & buds. Seeds rich in fat and widely used in cooking (matfura butter). |
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