Description: “Small spreading much branched tree up to 9 m. tall, often with a rounded flattish crown. Young twigs usually densely hairy. … Range Sudan Republic to Senegal and North Africa, also Ethiopia and Somali Republic to Arabia and Palestine.”
Uses: Sweet, not bitter, wood for preparing lmalasin.
I am an author who writes about traditional food and foodways. My book, The Magic of Fire (2002) is about hearth cooking. I have written an introductory history of bread, Bread, a global history (2011) and am currently writing a history of bread for the University of California Press. Other areas of interest include wild mushrooms, and specifically the treatment of Amanita muscaria in the historic record. I also write about Early Modern British Gardens, and for a more general audience, I write for Mother Earth News on bread, gardening, and more. I have an ongoing research project into the smoke-cured fermented milk of the Kenyan Samburu tribe. I am a co-director of the Samburu Lowlands Research Station, Lengusaka. I am the founding editor (1972) of Stone Soup, the magazine of writing and art by young people.
View all posts by William Rubel
Samburu Research 