Lannea edulis

This species bears edible fruits and it grows just 20-50 cm tall. with a thick underground trunk or caudex, which helps it to survive drought and fires. Sometimes it is called the "underground tree". Flowers appear in early spring in the leafless plant and soon the berries start to grow up and turn reddish brown,. Then some beautiful pinnate leaves are set, which in their first weeks are silvery and velvety, and later will thurn bright green and leathery. Fruits of Lannea edulis are eaten when ripe, dark purple. They are fleshy and juicy and taste pleasantly sour. It is also widely used as herbal medicine throughout its distributional range in tropical Africa It is found in a wide range of seasonally dry habitats, at elevations from 200 - 1600 metres. Our plants came from material originally collected in Taru, Kenya.

Don't expect a large plant. This is a collectors' item, grown in a 14 cm pot.

Pictures from wikimedia commons:

Arthur Murray Harmsworth, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons