Common name: Abyssinian gooseberry

Abyssinian gooseberry is a fruiting shrub or small tree originating in East Africa, its natural range limited to highland areas in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi.

It is a small evergreen tree, or multi-trunked shrub, 5 to 10 m (16 to 32 ft) tall with a densely branched rounded crown. The stems and branches are covered in grey-brown bark, dotted with wart-like pores, and armed with strong, straight spines. 

The leaves are oval to oblong, up to 5 cm (2 in) long, dark glossy green and alternately arranged along the branch ends.

The flowers are small, petalless, but with five to eight green petal-like sepals. They are either female or male (on separate plants). Blooms are induced by rainfall, with flowering in the rainy season or on and off throughout the year in constantly humid climates.

Fertilised female flowers develop into small, round fruit up to 2 cm (0.8 in) in diameter. Green when young, they become orange-yellow when ripe with soft apricot-coloured flesh and a few flat seed at the centre. They are harvested when ripe but firm, after which they soften quickly. The pulp is strongly aromatic, with an acid to sub-acid flavour and slight astringency, depending on the fruit's stage of ripeness.

Use

The fruit are edible when fully ripe but are usually too sour to be eaten fresh out-of-hand. Instead, they are made into jam, fruit syrup, puree, or dried like apricots. To make jam or fruit syrup, the tough skin is peeled off and the pulp boiled with a bit of water, then it is strained and boiled with an equal quantity of sugar.

It makes a good candidate for a barrier plant because of its sharp spines and shrub-like habit.

Health use

The fruit pulp has a high Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) content. 

Climate

Grows naturally in sub-humid to moderately humid subtropical and tropical climates, generally frost-free areas with annual lows of 8 to 20°C, annual highs of 20 to 30°C, annual rainfall of 600 to 1600 mm and a dry season of 7 months or less, extending to 12 months with irrigation or groundwater.  

Growing

New plants can be started from seed, cuttings or suckers. 

Performs best on free-draining clay, loam and sand soils of a moderately acid to alkaline nature, generally with a pH of 5.5 to 8.0, and on sites with full to partial sun exposure. It has good tolerance to drought and limestone soils.

Problem features

The tree is a heavy bearer, and the fruit attracts birds that disperse the seed afar. It is a close relative of Dovyalis hebecarpa, which is assessed as a high weed risk for Hawaii by the Hawaii weed risk assessment (HPWRA) project.

Books

• Dharani, N. 2011, Field guide to common trees & shrubs of East Africa, 2nd ed., Struik Nature Publishing, Cape Town

• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 1988, Traditional food plants : a resource book for promoting the exploitation and consumption of food plants in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid lands of eastern Africa, Food and Nutrition Paper No. 42, Rome

• Jex-Blake, A. J. 1957, Gardening in East Africa : a practical handbook, 4th ed., Royal Kenya Horticultural Society, Longmans, Green and Company, London

• Kennard, W. C. & Winters, H. F. 1960, Some fruits and nuts for the tropics, Miscellaneous Publication No. 801, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Federal Experimental Station, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

• Martin, F. M., et al. 1987, Perennial edible fruits of the tropics : an inventory, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, D.C.

• Morton, J. F. & Dowling, C. F. 1987, Fruits of warm climates, Creative Resources Systems, Winterville, North Carolina

• Page, P. E. 1984, Tropical tree fruits for Australia, Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QLD DPI), Brisbane