Acanthosicyos horridus
Nara ( Acanthosicyos horridus ) with fruits
The Nara Nara or ( Acanthosicyos horridus ) is a plant belonging to the gourd family ( Cucurbitaceae ). Only belongs to the genus Acanthosicyos another type Acanthosicyos naudinianus that is spread from Angola to Cape Province in the Namib Desert.
Origin of the name
The Nara is also known under the name Nara Nara fruit or melon and takes its name from the local Nama and Damara, the name it! Nara. The "!" Represents a Schnalzlaut of Khoekhoegowab.
Occurrence and location
The Nara is endemic to Namibia and growing at a 40 to 60 km wide strip along the 1000 km of coastline from the Orange River in the south to the Kunene River in the north. Within this area it is found only on the shores of Rivieren and on dunes when their roots can reach groundwater. The population is estimated to some hundred to a few thousand copies, their number and the size of the fruit, in recent years decreased. The Nara is the most common plant in the Namib Desert. On the basis of fossils, it is believed that the species has existed for 40 million years.
Description
The Nara is a leafless shrub that reaches the plant height of 0.5 to 1 m. Your wild undergrowth of branches can cover an area of 1500 square meters and it can be over 100 years old. This scrub collects sand, thus forming high dunes, with the largest part of the plant is hidden in the sand where their up to 30 cm thick and advance up to 40 meters long roots to groundwater. She is busy with paired, 2 to 3 cm long spines. Photosynthesis takes place in their branches, flowers and thorns.
Nara is dioecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( dioecious ), so there are male and female plants. The pale yellow or greenish flowers have a diameter of about 3 cm and are available individually. The female flowers are identified by their inferior ovary below the flower cup.
He first developed green, later yellow-orange, melon -shaped, spine reinforced fruits. The high water content fruits reach the size of ostrich eggs ( diameter of about 15 cm) with a weight of about 1 kg contain about 250 seeds. The cream-colored seeds taste nutty and are rich in oil (about 55%) and proteins ( about 30 %).
The fruit is eaten by many animals of the Namib, including giraffe, gemsbok, rhino, jackal, hyena and various beetles. Mainly elephants and next porcupines contribute to proliferation, because they excrete a large proportion of the seeds undigested from. Smaller rodents with a high energy demand, such as the dwarf gerbil, however, destroy mainly the nutritious seeds and are disadvantageous for the plant.
Use
Both the fruit and the seeds are suitable ( preserved by drying ) for human consumption, the plant is also used in Namibia medicine for stomach pain, to accelerate wound healing and as a natural sunscreen.