Description

A shrub, or tree to over 20 m high by 1·70 m girth, of savanna and forest, from Sierra Leone to Nigeria, and perhaps on to the Congo basin.The bark exudes a little brownish gum when slashed (1, 9). The fresh cut wood is white and turns brownish. It is hard and contains black veins (1, 4, 8, 9). The smaller stems are used as chew-sticks (5, 8) and larger pieces find unspecified domestic uses (6, 8).The plant is said to be poisonous to stock (5, 6, 8). There is strong but so far inconclusive evidence of the presence of monofluoroacetic acid (12). This is the toxic substance present in gifblaar, D. cymosum Engl., the cause of very considerable loss of stock in S Africa (3, 13). It is present in the leaves, more especially the younger ones. The substance of itself is not poisonous, but toxicity follows from enzymatic action in digestion. The addition of monosodium acid phosphate to stock drinking water conveys complete protection against dichapetalosis (13). See also D. toxicaricum below.Sap expressed from the pulped leaves, together with the leaves of other drug-plants, is used by the Baule of Ivory Coast in nasal instillations for jaundice (10), and the leaves are made into plasters and poultices for treating sores and old painful urethrites (2). In S Nigeria, the Igbo use the leaf with soap for washing (11).The fruit contains an edible pulp. The seed is also edible (5, 6, 7, 8).

Description

A shrub, or tree to over 20 m high by 1·70 m girth, of savanna and forest, from Sierra Leone to Nigeria, and perhaps on to the Congo basin.The bark exudes a little brownish gum when slashed (1, 9). The fresh cut wood is white and turns brownish. It is hard and contains black veins (1, 4, 8, 9). The smaller stems are used as chew-sticks (5, 8) and larger pieces find unspecified domestic uses (6, 8).The plant is said to be poisonous to stock (5, 6, 8). There is strong but so far inconclusive evidence of the presence of monofluoroacetic acid (12). This is the toxic substance present in gifblaar, D. cymosum Engl., the cause of very considerable loss of stock in S Africa (3, 13). It is present in the leaves, more especially the younger ones. The substance of itself is not poisonous, but toxicity follows from enzymatic action in digestion. The addition of monosodium acid phosphate to stock drinking water conveys complete protection against dichapetalosis (13). See also D. toxicaricum below.Sap expressed from the pulped leaves, together with the leaves of other drug-plants, is used by the Baule of Ivory Coast in nasal instillations for jaundice (10), and the leaves are made into plasters and poultices for treating sores and old painful urethrites (2). In S Nigeria, the Igbo use the leaf with soap for washing (11).The fruit contains an edible pulp. The seed is also edible (5, 6, 7, 8).