Description

A scandent or lianous shrub attaining 10 m height, of scrub, wooded and forested areas from Senegal to S Nigeria, and in central and eastern Africa.The stems hold a clear watery sap which is potable and is obtained by cutting a length of stem and letting the liquid run out into a container. The quantity is variable according to the climate, dry conditions resulting in a limited return whereas plants from humid high-forest may yield several litres of potable liquid. Such a phenomenon has naturally led to medicinal applications, and to a certain amount of magic. Curiously the use of the sap to relieve thirst is barely noted (8) though it must be of value to anyone on the march.In Nigeria the sap is used for toothache and cough (9), and in Ivory Coast for tachycardia, ophthalmias and to remove foreign objects from the eyes (3). In Congo the sap is used to ‘purify’ mother and child immediately after birth. It must be given, as if it is a sort of colostrum, to a baby for its first suckle and is given regularly to twins to strengthen them, and to lactating mothers as a galactogogue. The sap is drunk by those with serious pulmonary affections, and the excitable and mentally ill. The lotion is used to relieve purulent ophthalmias, sores and oedemas (2).The sap is used as a vehicle for the preparation of a macerate of the plant itself or of other drug-plants. The plant’s lianous stems are macerated in its own sap in Senegal and taken in draught, baths or washes for leprosy (6, 7). A leaf-decoction is a remedy for toothache and a root-decoction for gonorrhoea in Sierra Leone (5). The powdered leaf may be used or a decoction of it for cough or held in the mouth to relieve toothache, or as a medicinal bath; also a decoction of leaf and root for venereal diseases (4). In Congo the plant’s leaves or a portion of liane boiled in its own sap is held to be a powerful diuretic and used for urethral discharges and generalized oedemas, and to be vermifugal and purgative for stomach complaints. The sap is also concocted with other drug-plants in treatment for gastro-intestinal affections and haemoptysis (2)No active principle apart from a trace of saponin has been recorded in the plant (4, 7).The lianous stems serve as binding material (5).The flowers are visited by bees (1).A shrub or scandent of open places, usually on sandy coastal soil, of Pleistocene origin, recorded only in Sierra Leone.The plant is very floriferous and showy in flower. The stems are used for tying house-posts. Split they are regarded as specially good rope. Kwako people who are noted for producing specially high quality piassava (Raphia spp., Palmae) tie up their bundles of piassava with this material as a sort of trade-mark. The young leaves, pounded, yield a fish-poison, and when mixed with palm-oil and applied to affected feet to be effective in killing jiggers (Deighton fide 1). A phenol, present in the plant in unusually high concentration, has been isolated. This is found to kill fish at dilutions down to 10 ppm. (2).

Description

A scandent or lianous shrub attaining 10 m height, of scrub, wooded and forested areas from Senegal to S Nigeria, and in central and eastern Africa.The stems hold a clear watery sap which is potable and is obtained by cutting a length of stem and letting the liquid run out into a container. The quantity is variable according to the climate, dry conditions resulting in a limited return whereas plants from humid high-forest may yield several litres of potable liquid. Such a phenomenon has naturally led to medicinal applications, and to a certain amount of magic. Curiously the use of the sap to relieve thirst is barely noted (8) though it must be of value to anyone on the march.In Nigeria the sap is used for toothache and cough (9), and in Ivory Coast for tachycardia, ophthalmias and to remove foreign objects from the eyes (3). In Congo the sap is used to ‘purify’ mother and child immediately after birth. It must be given, as if it is a sort of colostrum, to a baby for its first suckle and is given regularly to twins to strengthen them, and to lactating mothers as a galactogogue. The sap is drunk by those with serious pulmonary affections, and the excitable and mentally ill. The lotion is used to relieve purulent ophthalmias, sores and oedemas (2).The sap is used as a vehicle for the preparation of a macerate of the plant itself or of other drug-plants. The plant’s lianous stems are macerated in its own sap in Senegal and taken in draught, baths or washes for leprosy (6, 7). A leaf-decoction is a remedy for toothache and a root-decoction for gonorrhoea in Sierra Leone (5). The powdered leaf may be used or a decoction of it for cough or held in the mouth to relieve toothache, or as a medicinal bath; also a decoction of leaf and root for venereal diseases (4). In Congo the plant’s leaves or a portion of liane boiled in its own sap is held to be a powerful diuretic and used for urethral discharges and generalized oedemas, and to be vermifugal and purgative for stomach complaints. The sap is also concocted with other drug-plants in treatment for gastro-intestinal affections and haemoptysis (2)No active principle apart from a trace of saponin has been recorded in the plant (4, 7).The lianous stems serve as binding material (5).The flowers are visited by bees (1).A shrub or scandent of open places, usually on sandy coastal soil, of Pleistocene origin, recorded only in Sierra Leone.The plant is very floriferous and showy in flower. The stems are used for tying house-posts. Split they are regarded as specially good rope. Kwako people who are noted for producing specially high quality piassava (Raphia spp., Palmae) tie up their bundles of piassava with this material as a sort of trade-mark. The young leaves, pounded, yield a fish-poison, and when mixed with palm-oil and applied to affected feet to be effective in killing jiggers (Deighton fide 1). A phenol, present in the plant in unusually high concentration, has been isolated. This is found to kill fish at dilutions down to 10 ppm. (2).