African Potato Mint | Plectranthus rotundifolius
once upon an adventure in permaculture, i searched the interweb for plants that give food but no fcks, and was thrilled to discover: African potato mint. i now have it growing all over the place. here’s what i love about it.
- dense groundcover that outcompetes most weeds
- when it flowers, the bees go crazy for it
- small tasty potatoes right around thanksgiving time.
- next to no maintenance required
a couple years ago, no one local seemed familiar with this plant. i ordered some from an online shop based in another part of Florida. impatiently, i stared at those tubers for what seemed like a century before they finally started to sprout. then i stared at the plants waiting for them to make me some potatoes.
when you don’t know what to expect, things seem to take a lot longer than they would otherwise.
with patience comes potatoes.
not really potatoes, but small tubers that are about as versatile and could likely substitute in any recipe calling for ‘Irish’ potato*.
i shared this plant with pretty much anybody who would take some. and, be it causation or coincidence, many more local folks seem to have it in their yards now. fantastic! this is such a good Florida permaculture crop. the more people who are growing it locally, the more we can compare notes on cultivation, preservation, and hopefully some recipes.
this plant really is in the mint family and really is native to Africa, where it’s been a staple smallholder crop in many regions for ages.
i was curious about how people referred to it where it naturally grows and has historically been eaten. African Potato Mint just doesn’t seem like its ‘real name’.
it has a lot of names.
starting with the Latin, these are essentially synonymous (non-exhaustive list):
Coleus esculentus, Coleus dazo, Coleus dysentericus, Coleus parviflorus, Coleus tuberosus, Plectranthus rotundifolius, Plectranthus tuberosus, Plectranthus floribundus
here is a list of common names in languages used across the African continent.
Afrikaans: Wilde aartappel
Burkina Faso: fabourama
Mali: fabourama
Ghana: fra-fra potato (a new favorite for me)
Nigeria: saluga, tumuku, Rizga (Hausa)
Chad: ngaboyo
Tswana: umbondive(ck)
Venda: Mutada, Matheta
Zulu: Umbondive, Ibonda, Ugilo, Ulucanqu, Uluhlaza, Isisqwili,
Ushizane, Umhlati, ulujilo, Imbondwe, uJwangu, uShizan, uJilo,
uJikwe, uHlazaluti, iZambhane
Sudan: Fa-Birama
Sri Lanka: innala, ratala
Malawi: buye, nyumbu, njowe, cezani
Siswati: Mlata
Shona: Shezha, Tsenga, Tensa, Tsenza (the first non-English name i encountered)
Tswana: Makwele e Sechuana
Sotho: Tapole emahlo (wild), Tapole-ea-mahlo
Xhosa: Itapile
and other places, too.
French: Madagascar potato
India: koorka, koorkan, kizhangu
Indonesia: ketang, kentang dwaja
Malaysia: kembili, ubi kembili
English: Livingstone potato, wild potato, country potato, Hausa potato,
Madagascar potato, coleus potato, Sudan potato, scrambled eggs (what??),
Zulu round potato (S. rotundifolius), elongated native potato,
Swedish begonia
here’s the citation for all those wonderful names listed above:
National Research Council 2006. Lost Crops of Africa: Volume II: Vegetables.
Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/11763.
download a pdf of this book for free! like, wow, free book!
Lost Crops of Africa: Volume II: Vegetables
*not really from Ireland. native to South America, and brought to Ireland late in the 16th century.