Description

A robust, perennial herb to 3 m high or more, of lowland rain-forest throughout the Region, and extending over the Congo basin.The internodes reach up to 30 cm long with swollen nodes made larger by short ragged sheaths of the nodal whorl of leaves. This character is noted in the Liberian Bassa name meaning ‘swollen knee’, and Nigerian Igbo ‘sheep’s knee’ and Yoruba ‘knee-cap’. The plant is grown as an ornamental and is sometimes a component of hedges (6).This species is the most commonly used of the Commelinaceae. It appears to have analgesic and antiseptic properties. In Ivory Coast a plaster of pulped stems or the sap in a compress is applied as a dressing to furuncles, whitlow, craw-craw sores, contusion, fractures, adenites and arthritic pains; a draught of plant-sap is taken for cough, bronchitis and chest-pains; a decoction of the leafy stems is used in frictions and in baths for oedema and a decoction of the whole plant for urethral discharge, or a decoction of the stem with root of Alchornea (Euphorbiaceae) in draught and in enema for haematuria and urethral discharge; the sap is haemostatic and is also applied to yaws and guineaworm sores; a preparation is taken internally for difficult childbirth, female sterility and as an antemetic and antidysenteric; the crushed root is made into a suppository as an aphrodisiac (4, 12). The Guere use the stem-pith made into a paste with pimento and water in enemas for general fatigue, claiming that it is an excellent ‘pick-me-up’, while the Akye use the dried powdered leaves in water as an antidysentery enema (1). In Ghana (9) and Nigeria (2) the stem is chewed as a sedative for cough; the dried leaves are smoked for toothache; the roots are added to soup taken by women in pregnancy and pounded up with peppercorns of Piper guineense (Piperaceae) are applied externally to sprains, and put in warm water constitute an enema for constipation. The Tiv people believe that the leaves and roots are an aid to conception (16), and the Igbo of Obompa prepare an ointment of the plant for gun-shot wounds and swellings (15). In Sierra Leone the roots washed, cut up and boiled with lime are held to cure gonorrhoea in three days if taken immediately (13); sore feet are treated by fumigation, the roots being made to smoulder in a hole in the ground covered by wicker (6), and are put into medicine for stomachache (8). The plant is used in Ghana for stomach-pains (9), and a leaf-infusion is taken for piles and given to babies to heal the navel (14). Shavings of the stem are used in Gabon to promote healing of wounds particularly of the umbilicus; heated leaves are applied over the lumbar region for kidney-pains; cooked with groundnuts, the leaves are taken by suckling mothers to cleanse their milk; and pieces of the stem, after exposure to the sun are made into a draught for urethral discharge (17, 18). In Liberia the plant is held to be good for treating deafness (5), and sap from the roasted leaf is instilled in the ear for earache (6).In Casamance (Senegal) the plant is used in conjunction with Adenia lobata (Jacq.) Engl. (Passifloraceae) as a fish-poison (10, 11). In Gabon arrow-poison is made from the stems mixed with Tephrosia (Leguminosae: Papilionioideae), or the sap is added to the powdered seeds of Strophanthus (Apocynaceae) (18). The dried plant is used sometimes in Sierra Leone for soap-making (7).The flowers are fragrant and are frequented by bees (3).In superstitious practice amongst the Temne the plant is carried in the hands in witch-divination (N. W. Thomas fide 6), and in Ghana it is regarded as a deterrent to the spiritual influences caused by plague and is placed on paths, etc., during epidemics which the plague cannot pass (9).

Description

A robust, perennial herb to 3 m high or more, of lowland rain-forest throughout the Region, and extending over the Congo basin.The internodes reach up to 30 cm long with swollen nodes made larger by short ragged sheaths of the nodal whorl of leaves. This character is noted in the Liberian Bassa name meaning ‘swollen knee’, and Nigerian Igbo ‘sheep’s knee’ and Yoruba ‘knee-cap’. The plant is grown as an ornamental and is sometimes a component of hedges (6).This species is the most commonly used of the Commelinaceae. It appears to have analgesic and antiseptic properties. In Ivory Coast a plaster of pulped stems or the sap in a compress is applied as a dressing to furuncles, whitlow, craw-craw sores, contusion, fractures, adenites and arthritic pains; a draught of plant-sap is taken for cough, bronchitis and chest-pains; a decoction of the leafy stems is used in frictions and in baths for oedema and a decoction of the whole plant for urethral discharge, or a decoction of the stem with root of Alchornea (Euphorbiaceae) in draught and in enema for haematuria and urethral discharge; the sap is haemostatic and is also applied to yaws and guineaworm sores; a preparation is taken internally for difficult childbirth, female sterility and as an antemetic and antidysenteric; the crushed root is made into a suppository as an aphrodisiac (4, 12). The Guere use the stem-pith made into a paste with pimento and water in enemas for general fatigue, claiming that it is an excellent ‘pick-me-up’, while the Akye use the dried powdered leaves in water as an antidysentery enema (1). In Ghana (9) and Nigeria (2) the stem is chewed as a sedative for cough; the dried leaves are smoked for toothache; the roots are added to soup taken by women in pregnancy and pounded up with peppercorns of Piper guineense (Piperaceae) are applied externally to sprains, and put in warm water constitute an enema for constipation. The Tiv people believe that the leaves and roots are an aid to conception (16), and the Igbo of Obompa prepare an ointment of the plant for gun-shot wounds and swellings (15). In Sierra Leone the roots washed, cut up and boiled with lime are held to cure gonorrhoea in three days if taken immediately (13); sore feet are treated by fumigation, the roots being made to smoulder in a hole in the ground covered by wicker (6), and are put into medicine for stomachache (8). The plant is used in Ghana for stomach-pains (9), and a leaf-infusion is taken for piles and given to babies to heal the navel (14). Shavings of the stem are used in Gabon to promote healing of wounds particularly of the umbilicus; heated leaves are applied over the lumbar region for kidney-pains; cooked with groundnuts, the leaves are taken by suckling mothers to cleanse their milk; and pieces of the stem, after exposure to the sun are made into a draught for urethral discharge (17, 18). In Liberia the plant is held to be good for treating deafness (5), and sap from the roasted leaf is instilled in the ear for earache (6).In Casamance (Senegal) the plant is used in conjunction with Adenia lobata (Jacq.) Engl. (Passifloraceae) as a fish-poison (10, 11). In Gabon arrow-poison is made from the stems mixed with Tephrosia (Leguminosae: Papilionioideae), or the sap is added to the powdered seeds of Strophanthus (Apocynaceae) (18). The dried plant is used sometimes in Sierra Leone for soap-making (7).The flowers are fragrant and are frequented by bees (3).In superstitious practice amongst the Temne the plant is carried in the hands in witch-divination (N. W. Thomas fide 6), and in Ghana it is regarded as a deterrent to the spiritual influences caused by plague and is placed on paths, etc., during epidemics which the plague cannot pass (9).