Sideroxylon mascatense (A.DC.) T.D.Penn.
البوت
For people
- Eaten by people
- Edible
- Toxic to people
- Not toxic
For livestock
- Grazed by livestock
- Limited fodder
- Toxic to livestock
- Unknown
Edibility and safety notes
The ripe purple-black berries (but/boot) are sweet and eaten fresh or dried; mountain people in northern Oman gather them every season and they are sold in local markets. Each fruit holds one hard seed, which is not eaten. No toxicity is reported for the fruit; no information was found on eating any other part. The leaves are reported to be eaten by grazing animals and the Omani field guide rates the tree good browse for goats and camels, but no study of its safety for livestock was found. The branches are spiny, so pick with care.
This guide is a hobby project, not expert advice. Never eat a wild plant, or feed it to animals, on the strength of this page alone. Read the disclaimer
Description
A spiny small tree or large shrub; the Omani field guide gives a height of up to 2 m, while other sources describe trees commonly reaching 7-10 m. Spines short, axillary or terminal. Leaves simple, leathery, without stipules, alternate or clustered, 2.5-3.5 x 1-1.5 cm, oblong-ovate to spoon-shaped, hairless above and bluish green beneath, rounded at the tip and wedge-shaped at the base, the margin rolled under, on a short stalk 2-3 mm long. Flowers small, about 5 mm across, in axillary clusters; calyx with five lobes about 3 mm long; corolla pale yellow, bell-shaped, five-lobed, hairless; stamens 5, longer than the petals; ovary hairy, five-celled. Fruit a globose berry about 1 cm across with a single seed, purple-black when ripe and edible. Flowers April to June.
Habitat
The northern mountains of Oman (Al Hajar); on Jebel Akhdar it is the dominant tree of semi-evergreen woodland at about 1,350-2,350 m.
Distribution
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, the Arabian Peninsula (Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia), Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
Pastoral value
Good browse for goats and camels.
Other uses
The ripe fruits are gathered from wild trees, eaten fresh and sold in local markets and along roadsides in northern Oman; traditionally they are regarded as a health tonic.
Sources
- الدليل الحقلي المصور للنباتات البرية في سلطنة عُمان (BOOK.pdf p.185)
- Wikipedia - Sideroxylon mascatense — en.wikipedia.org
- Oman Observer - Super Fruits (Boot and Hegimt fruits of Sideroxylon mascatense) — omanobserver.om
- University of Kassel publication record - northern Oman study noting S. mascatense fruits collected and sold on local markets — forschung.uni-kassel.de
- POWO - Sideroxylon mascatense (A.DC.) T.D.Penn. — powo.science.kew.org
- Useful Tropical Plants – Sideroxylon mascatense — tropical.theferns.info
- Polyphenol and flavonoid stability of wild blueberry (Sideroxylon mascatense), Foods 2023 — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Ecosystem services of Monotheca buxifolia forests in Pakistan, Biology 2022 — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov