Boscia (Boscia angustifolia A. Rich.) is an African multipurpose tree that is mainly used for fodder and food (Orwa et al., 2009).
Morphology
Boscia angustifolia is a shrubby, evergreen tree reaching a height of 6-14 m (Orwa et al., 2009; Fici et al., 1993; Dougall et al., 1958). In the wild, the crown of boscia is cylindrical, but this shape is seldom found since the shrub is frequently lopped for feeding livestock and thus the crown is mostly round-shaped (Dougall et al., 1958). Its branches are leafy, bearing numerous leaves that are small, thick, fleshy and coriaceous. These leaves are narrow (hence the epithet "angustifolia" meaning narrow leaf) lanceolate or linear in shape and pale green in colour. They can be alternate on young twigs of clustered on old wood. The leaf blade is 2-4.5 (-6.5) cm long x 0.7-2 cm broad, with conspicuous midrib and reticulum on both faces (Orwa et al., 2009; Fici et al., 1993). There are 2 varieties of Boscia angustifolia: Boscia angustifolia var. corymbosa has minutely pubescent leaves and Boscia angustifolia var. angustifolia has leaves with completely glabrous lower face (Orwa et al., 2009). The shrub keeps its leaves during the dry season (FAO, 2016).
The flowers are small greenish-white, clustered in short terminal corymbose racemes, 3-6 cm long x 3-7 cm in diameter. Boscia angustifolia flourishes during the cool part of the dry season.The fruits need a year to ripen .They are edible, though bitter, spherical, rough-skinned berries, up to 13 mm in diameter, reddish grey in colour (Orwa et al., 2009; Fici et al., 1993; Dougall et al., 1958). They contain 7 cream-coloured seeds (Orwa et al., 2009).
Uses
All parts of Boscia angustifolia are used for food, fodder, or wood.
The foliage is nutritious and sometimes browsed by herbivores, especially at flowering stage and at the end of the dry season (FAO, 2016; Baumer, 1983). In dryland areas, farmers lop the branches to provide fodder to their herds and keep them from starving (Orwa et al., 2009; NRC, 2008; Dougall et al., 1958). It is foraged by bees (Orwa et al., 2009).
The wood is hard and can be used for carpentry or water storage. It is a valuable source of charcoal for gunpowder (Orwa et al., 2009). In Burkina Faso, the young leaves are eaten mixed with millet couscous (Doulkom, 2000). In Tanzania, the wood is burned to smoke milk fo preservation (Komwihangilo et al., 1995). Boscia angustifolia is used ethnomedicine (Baumer, 1983; Doulkom, 2000). In ethnoveterinary medicine, Boscia angustifolia leaves are used as tonic for horses and camels (Orwa et al., 2009) and to treat poultry diseases (Komwihangilo et al., 1995).
