The National Indigenous Knowledge Management System
Future systems that will be available via the NIKSO Portal include the IK Register of Designations.
Highlights
Summary
*IKSDC - Indigenous Knowledge Systems Documentation Centre
Full Details
Operations provided by NIKMAS are as follows:
- African Traditional Medicine
- Food Security
Pharmacopoeia

Featured Plant
Portulacaria afra is an erect, robust, densely branched and soft-wooded succulent evergreen shrub or small tree which usually reaches a height of about 3 metres. The bark is smooth and shiny and the branches are brittle with jointed nodes. Twigs are reddish-brown while older bark becomes progressively grey and wrinkled withage. The small, round, fleshy leaves often have distinctive reddish margins and almost no stalk. Leaves have an astringent, lemony taste and are thirst quenching. Masses of star-shaped small pink flowers are borne in profusion on the stems. Flowers develop into small winged pendant, translucent and glossy pink fruits. References: 1 Van Wyk, B-E. and Gericke, N. (2007). People’s plants: a guide to useful plants of southern Africa. Briza, Pretoria. 2 Wikipedia (2015). Portulacaria afra.