Global Regional Plant Guides

East African Highlands & Afromontane Forest Plant Survival Guide

A comprehensive survival plant guide for East African Highlands & Afromontane Forest, covering useful woody materials, land foods, aquatic foods, traditional-use plants and poisonous look-alikes.

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Cover of East African Highlands & Afromontane Forest Plant Survival Guide

Continent: Africa
USDA-equivalent zones: 7-11
Köppen climate: Cwb / Cfb
Profiles: 20
Regional biome: Afromontane forest, bamboo belt, moorland and highland stream

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Useful plants · 5 Land edibles · 5 Aquatic edibles · 3 Traditional-use · 3 Poisonous look-alikes · 4

Useful plants

Wood, fibre, shelter and craft

African highland bamboo

Oldeania alpina / Oxytenanthera spp.

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for African highland bamboo

Identify: Tall segmented culms in dense stands; narrow grass leaves; branching at nodes.
Habitat: African highlands or dry tropical woodland depending species.
Season: Culms year-round; shoots seasonal.
Field use: Shelter, containers, arrow shafts, bows, traps, friction-fire sets and cooked shoots of known species.
Caution: Shoots may contain cyanogenic compounds and require boiling; stands hide wildlife and unstable slopes.
Look-alikes: Reeds are thinner and wetland-rooted.

constructionarrow shaftbow drillcontainerfood shoot

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African pencil cedar

Juniperus procera

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for African pencil cedar

Identify: Tall evergreen with scale-like foliage, reddish fibrous bark and blue berry-like cones.
Habitat: East African highlands and Afromontane forest.
Season: Year-round.
Field use: Durable aromatic wood for poles, tools, bows and fuel; fibrous bark is tinder.
Caution: Old trees are protected or culturally important. Smoke and oils irritate.
Look-alikes: Podocarpus has flat strap leaves and fleshy seed structures.

bow woodpolestoolstinder

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African podocarps

Podocarpus latifolius / P. falcatus

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for African podocarps

Identify: Evergreen tree with flat strap-like leaves and single seeds on fleshy receptacles rather than cones.
Habitat: African montane and coastal evergreen forest.
Season: Wood year-round; seeds seasonal.
Field use: Straight wood for bows, tools, boards and fuel.
Caution: Many populations are protected and overlogged. Fleshy seed structures are not general food.
Look-alikes: African juniper has scale leaves and berry-like cones.

bow woodtoolsconstructionfuel

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Wild raisins / Grewia

Grewia spp.

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for Wild raisins / Grewia

Identify: Rough toothed leaves; small star-like flowers; lobed orange, red or brown drupes.
Habitat: African savanna, dry woodland and scrub.
Season: Fruit seasonal; stems year-round.
Field use: Ripe fruits of selected species are documented food; straight stems provide arrow shafts, bows, cordage bark and tool handles.
Caution: Species vary. Confirm fruit and leaf traits; thorny thickets can conceal snakes.
Look-alikes: Ziziphus has paired thorns and three-veined leaves.

food fruitarrow shaftbow woodcordage

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Alders

Alnus spp.

Useful plants

Identify: Oval toothed leaves; catkins; woody cone-like female structures persist through winter.
Habitat: Wet thickets, streambanks, avalanche tracks and disturbed forest.
Season: Wood year-round; leaves growing season.
Field use: Straight stems for racks and wattle; seasoned alder burns evenly and is widely used as smoking wood.
Caution: Wet alder smokes heavily; dense thickets can hide unstable banks.
Look-alikes: Birch lacks persistent woody cones.

poleswattlefuelsmoking

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Land edibles

Terrestrial food species

Wild roses

Rosa spp.

Land-based edible plants

Identify: Prickly stems; compound toothed leaves; five-petaled flowers; red to orange hips.
Habitat: Open woods, thickets, prairie, dunes and mountain slopes.
Season: Hips late summer through winter.
Field use: Fleshy hip walls are documented food after the irritating hairs and seeds are removed; good for simmering or drying.
Caution: Internal hairs irritate skin and mouth. Avoid sprayed or moldy fruit.
Look-alikes: Hawthorn has simple lobed leaves and woody thorns.

food fruitcordage

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Stinging nettle

Urtica dioica

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Stinging nettle

Identify: Opposite sharply toothed leaves; fibrous stems; translucent stinging hairs; green flower clusters.
Habitat: Rich disturbed soil, river terraces, old camps and forest openings.
Season: Young tops spring; fiber later.
Field use: Young tops are documented food after thorough cooking or drying; mature stems yield strong bast fiber.
Caution: Wear gloves; do not eat raw. Internal use can affect medicines and kidney conditions.
Look-alikes: Dead-nettles do not sting and have showier mint-family flowers.

food greencordagefiber

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Wild onions and garlic

Allium spp.

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Wild onions and garlic

Identify: Narrow leaves or hollow stems; spherical flower heads; clear onion or garlic odor in leaf and bulb.
Habitat: Meadows, rocky slopes, open woodland and stream terraces.
Season: Spring through fall.
Field use: Leaves, flowers and bulbs of positively identified Allium are documented food and seasoning.
Caution: Every sampled part must smell of onion, but odor is not the only test. Avoid unknown bulbs.
Look-alikes: Death camas lacks onion odor and can be fatal.

food greenfood bulb

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Bilberry / bog blueberry group

Vaccinium myrtillus / V. uliginosum

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Bilberry / bog blueberry group

Identify: Low woody shrub; blue to blue-black berries with a crown; leaves alternate and small.
Habitat: Boreal, montane and tundra heath.
Season: Mid- to late summer.
Field use: Ripe berries are documented food and can be dried or cooked.
Caution: Color alone is not enough; confirm woody stem and Vaccinium fruit crown.
Look-alikes: Black-berried herbs lack woody stems; crowberry has needle-like leaves.

food fruit

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Tamarind

Tamarindus indica

Land-based edible plants

Identify: Fine paired leaflets; brown brittle pods containing sticky sour pulp and hard seeds.
Habitat: African and Asian dry tropics, river valleys and old settlements.
Season: Pods dry season; wood year-round.
Field use: Pod pulp is documented food and drink flavoring; dense wood makes handles and fuel.
Caution: Seeds are extremely hard; avoid moldy pods. Acidic pulp can worsen reflux.
Look-alikes: Cassia pods and leaves differ; tamarind pods are brittle and pulp sticky.

food podhandlesfuel

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Aquatic edibles

Water-margin food species

Watercress

Nasturtium officinale

Water and wetland edible plants

Identify: Creeping hollow stems; pinnate leaves with a larger rounded terminal leaflet; small white four-petaled flowers.
Habitat: Cold flowing springs and streams, often where nutrient-rich.
Season: Cool seasons.
Field use: Tender tops are documented food and are usually cooked in survival settings.
Caution: Raw watercress can carry liver flukes and sewage pathogens. Avoid downstream of livestock, roads or settlements.
Look-alikes: Water hemlock has divided leaves and umbrella flowers; never rely on habitat alone.

food green

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Cattails

Typha spp.

Water and wetland edible plants

Identify: Tall flat strap leaves; dense brown cylindrical female flower spike below a narrower male section.
Habitat: Marshes, pond edges, slow channels and wet ditches.
Season: Shoots spring; pollen early summer; rhizomes year-round where lawful.
Field use: Documented food parts include young inner shoots, pollen and processed rhizome starch. Leaves make mats, baskets and thatch; seed down can bulk tinder.
Caution: Water can concentrate sewage, metals and parasites. Raw rhizome requires correct processing; avoid contaminated marshes.
Look-alikes: Yellow flag iris has sword leaves and showy flowers but no brown cattail head.

food shootfood starchbasketrythatchtinder

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African water lilies

Nymphaea lotus / N. nouchali group

Water and wetland edible plants

Stylized form diagram for African water lilies

Identify: Round floating leaves with a slit; showy white, blue or pink flowers; seeds and rhizomes.
Habitat: Warm African lakes, floodplains and slow rivers.
Season: Flowers and seeds seasonal; rhizomes year-round.
Field use: Seeds and rhizomes of selected species have documented food use after processing.
Caution: Raw tissues can be bitter or irritating; avoid polluted or crocodile habitat.
Look-alikes: Aquatic aroids have arrow leaves and a spadix.

food seedfood starch

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Traditional-use

Documented traditional medicine

African wormwood

Artemisia afra

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Stylized form diagram for African wormwood

Identify: Gray-green aromatic finely divided leaves; small inconspicuous flower heads; woody base.
Habitat: African highlands, grassland and disturbed mountain slopes.
Season: Growing season.
Field use: Widely documented traditional aromatic and respiratory use; dry stems support tinder.
Caution: No survival dosing. Concentrated oils and teas can be toxic, especially in pregnancy or seizure disorders.
Look-alikes: Other Artemisia species and unrelated gray shrubs resemble it.

medicinetinder

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African cherry

Prunus africana

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Stylized form diagram for African cherry

Identify: Glossy simple leaves with fine teeth, dark fissured bark and small purple-black drupes.
Habitat: Afromontane forest.
Season: Bark and wood year-round; fruit seasonal.
Field use: Dense wood for tools and fuel; bark has documented medicinal commerce.
Caution: The species is overharvested and protected in many areas. Do not strip bark or self-dose.
Look-alikes: Other Prunus have similar flowers and fruit but different leaf glands and bark.

toolsfuelmedicine

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Pepper-bark tree

Warburgia salutaris

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Stylized form diagram for Pepper-bark tree

Identify: Aromatic glossy leaves with pale undersides; rough bark; small green flowers and berries.
Habitat: Southern and East African forest margins.
Season: Leaves year-round.
Field use: Documented traditional medicinal plant and useful aromatic wood.
Caution: Critically overharvested in parts of its range. Do not strip bark or self-dose.
Look-alikes: Other aromatic trees require flower and bark confirmation.

medicinetools

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Poisonous look-alikes

Do not eat — verify before harvest

Monkshoods

Aconitum spp.

Poisonous plants

Identify: Deeply divided palmate leaves; blue, purple, yellow or white hood-shaped flowers.
Habitat: Moist mountain meadows, streambanks and cool forest.
Season: Summer.
Field use: No food or field medicinal use.
Caution: All parts contain potent aconitine-type alkaloids; ingestion can cause fatal heart and nerve effects.
Look-alikes: Larkspurs have a rear spur and are also toxic.

poison

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Flame lily

Gloriosa superba

Poisonous plants

Identify: Climbing herb with tendril-like leaf tips and red-yellow reflexed flame-shaped flowers; underground tubers.
Habitat: African and Asian tropical grassland, thicket and forest edge.
Season: Wet season.
Field use: No food or medicine use.
Caution: All parts, especially tubers and seeds, contain colchicine-type toxins and can be fatal.
Look-alikes: Edible yams twine differently and have inconspicuous flowers.

poison

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Castor bean

Ricinus communis

Poisonous plants

Identify: Large star-shaped palmately lobed leaves; spiny capsules; glossy mottled seeds.
Habitat: Warm disturbed ground, riverbanks and tropical/subtropical waste areas.
Season: Growing season; seeds seasonal.
Field use: No survival food or medicine use. Oil extraction is industrial, not a field process.
Caution: Chewed seeds can release ricin and cause severe or fatal poisoning.
Look-alikes: Jatropha has similar lobed leaves but different fruit; it is also toxic.

poison

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Water hemlocks

Cicuta spp.

Poisonous plants

Stylized form diagram for Water hemlocks

Identify: Wetland perennial with divided leaves, white umbrella flower clusters and thick chambered rootstocks.
Habitat: Marshes, wet meadows, stream edges and ditches across the northern hemisphere.
Season: Spring through fall.
Field use: No survival use. Make wetland root gathering a prohibited activity unless a qualified botanist is present.
Caution: Extremely poisonous; small amounts, especially roots, can cause violent seizures and death.
Look-alikes: Angelica, cow parsnip and other Apiaceae can look similar. Never taste to decide.

poison

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