Umuhanga (False Assegai)
Maesa lanceolata
A shrub or tree to 10m with reddish-brown, vertically fissured bark that exudes a reddish sap when cut. Its elliptical leaves have serrate margins, and its small round yellow fruit - though toxic to people - is eaten by forest birds.
- Kinyarwanda name
- Umuhanga
- English name
- False Assegai
- Scientific name
- Maesa lanceolata
- Family
- Primulaceae
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)
Habitat
Streambanks, riverbanks and forest edges/margins; often a pioneer species in montane and gallery forest.
Distribution
Widespread across tropical Africa from the southern Arabian Peninsula to South Africa's Eastern Cape and Madagascar; its Afromontane forest-margin range comfortably includes Rwanda.
Uses
Culturally used in the Kubandwa ceremony. The seeds have an anticancer compound and antifungal activity.
Ecological importance
Fruits attract forest birds that disperse the seeds; a pioneer species stabilising forest-edge soil.
Ibisobanuro
Imihango yo Kubandwa. Kivura ibisazi.