Umusasa (Hopbush)
Dodonaea viscosa
A tough, fast-growing shrub found on poor, sandy soils, valued as a windbreak and living fence. Its wood is so dense it is traditionally carved into walking sticks.
- Kinyarwanda name
- Umusasa
- English name
- Hopbush
- Scientific name
- Dodonaea viscosa
- Family
- Sapindaceae
Habitat
Dry, sandy or degraded soils, open woodland.
Distribution
A cosmopolitan pantropical species, common throughout Rwanda.
Uses
Extremely tough durable wood for walking sticks and tool handles; windbreak and hedging; stimulates lactation in nursing mothers; treats dysentery.
Ecological importance
Colonises degraded soils and helps stabilise land prone to erosion.
Ibisobanuro
Umusasa ni agati gatoya gakunze kuba ahantu hari ubutaka bugufi buvanze n'umusenyi. Agati kako karakomera cyane, kuburyo bakoramo inkoni. Umusasa uvura amacinya, ikongera n'amashereka kubagore bonsa.