August 1998 
Figure 1. Aframomum mildbraedii from Jubia Forest. 
from the forest or from the wild places 
around? Well, the children gathered fruits 
when they were ripe and, of course, a lot of 
plants could be used for vegetables to add 
to the fish their menfolk brought from the 
lake Paul recorded notes and later filled in 
his carefully prepared questionnaire 
Along the dusty road once again While 
the Ugandans interviewed a group of men 
selling freshly killed pork, I strained inside 
the oven of the vehicle to record the fiower 
detail of the Aframomum The men returned 
with James, the “butcher", who guided us 
to a school compound next to a forest edge 
He showed us another Aframomum fruit 
Mussaenda was a surprise addition to our 
snack fruits and we were pleased to find 
again the tasty little fruits of Tristemma in 
addition to the well-known Dovyalis 
macrocalyx. The chief attraction for the 
milling crowd of schoolchildren at their 
playtime was this strange mzungu woman 
with big boots and dark glasses 
We finally reached Bugala. Sscsc, by 
boat and local matatu The driver slopped 
his headlong drive across the ridge of the 
island to Kalangala so we could examine 
both flower and fruit of the common Uapaca 
We tried again, clambering over a steep 
bank and down into a big leafy stand of 
A. angusiifolium about 3 m tall. To our 
delight, right at ground level were the 
stumpy flowering stalks only half a metre 
high bearing the most fascinating pink- 
maroon flowers at their tips. Older 
specimens under the shade of the towering 
fronds held up their bright orange-red 
“banana-like" capsules (figure 2) The 
botanical threesome took photos, gathered 
specimens and tasted the booty. The ripe 
fruit is not bad, something rather nicer 
than passion fruit. One photo at least was 
of the other photographer crouched at 
ground level, camera aimed at macro 
length for the astonishing flower, only a 
hump and hat visible below the green leafy 
cover. 
Some children gleefully took the fruit 
we handed to them, biting into the bright 
red capsules and sucking out the soft fruit 
inside. 1 managed a quick photo while they 
enjoyed their snack. Tony and Paul had 
approached a compound in a small village 
nearby. The women were busy with 
household tasks but they listened politely 
to the elderly man and his young assistant 
Did they gather any fruit or vegetables 
Flower 
head 
Fruit 
head 
Opened edible 
fruit capsule 
Figure 2 Aframomum angustifolium at Lake Nabugabo 
