Description

A tree reaching to over 30 m high by 1 m girth, of damper sites of the savanna and closed secondary forests, common throughout from Senegal to W Cameroons, and widespread elsewhere in tropical Africa.The tree with its spreading crown is grown in villages on the Cameroon Mountain as a shade tree (21). It is one of the known hosts of Armillaria heimii Pegler, the causitive fungus of collar-crack disease of cacao, so that its presence on cacao plantations as a shade-bearer may not be desirable.The bole is clear and unbuttressed. It can be sawn into planks and used for ordinary building purposes (6, 8–10). Sap-wood is yellowish, heart-wood pinkish-white to brownish-red, hard, heavy, of medium texture, not difficult to work and is suitable for cabinetry, finishing smoothly and taking a fine polish. It is not resistant to insects and decay (9, 10, 15, 24). It is cut for roof-shingles in Ghana (5) and chew-sticks (6), and in the Congo region it is used for boatbuilding as the wood is said to bend ideally after steaming for shaping ribs (10). It is a good firewood (10–12), and charcoal is made of it in Sierra Leone (24). The wood-ash yields a vegetable salt (15).The bark is stringy and fibrous. It is commonly used in West Africa as a purgative (Senegal: 19; Sierra Leone: 10, 24; Liberia: 8, 10; Nigeria: 22), and is held to be anthelmintic in central Africa (28). It has anodynal properties. Dried and powdered it is rubbed on the body in febrile conditions (10, 22, 24), and in central Africa a bark-preparation is rubbed into scarifications as a stimulant and tonic (28). The Fula of Sierra Leone use the bark for toothache (16). In central Africa a decoction is used for the relief of post-partum pains, and bark-ash with local salt and palm-oil, which at the moment of application produces a burning sensation, is a topical embrocation for lumbar pain (28). In Congo (Brazzaville) a bark-decoction is used to relieve stomach and kidney complaints and to facilitate parturition (3). Treatment with a bark-decoction is said to bring about a more-or-less prolonged arrest of the menstrual cycle (3), though conversely in central Africa it is said to be taken to relieve amenorrhoea (28). In Malawi powdered bark-extract is applied to swellings and inflammation (15).The roots are used as a purgative in Senegal, and are deemed to have stimulatory properties (18, 19). In Ivory Coast they are used as chew-sticks, and in this manner also to be aphrodisiac (20). They are used in Guinea for stomach-ache (7) and are commonly applied in E Africa for treatment of internal troubles (15, 25), stomach-ache (26), and heart-pains (27). Root-decoctions are used in Tanganyika for schistosomiasis, gonorrhoea and hard abscesses, and, with leaf-sap added, for malaria (14).The young leaves are fed by Fula to their cattle in Sierra Leone (16), and the foliage, flowers and fruit are reported to be appreciated by antelope in Nigeria (12). In some parts of Tanganyika it is said that the tree is specially planted to provide fodder (13).An eye-wash is prepared in Ivory Coast-Upper Volta from a leaf-decoction (20). The leaves are said in Malawi to cure earache, and in Zaïre to be able to stanch wounds (15). Leaf and twig poultices are applied to ulcers caused by jiggers in Tanganyika (2, 28), and in Congo (Brazzaville) to furuncles and abcesses to hasten maturation (3). A leaf-decoction is taken in Ivory Coast for blennorrhoea and for poisoning, while a wash of the decoction is a stimulant in case of general fatigue (1). In Ubangi a decoction of roots and leafy twigs is also used for blennorrhoea (23). The young shoots make chew-sticks in Ghana (15, 30).The flowers are fragrant and in E Africa are much visited by bees and other insects. The fruit is edible, and is eaten in West and East Africa. It is a relished food of the guinea-fowl and the francolin. Seed in Kenya have attracted the bushbuck (12).Many alkaloids have been isolated from this plant, and of them phylochrysine and securinine are the most important. The former is a central nervous system stimulant which may account in part for the plant’s stimulatory properties (4, 19, 29). The bark yields about 10% tannin (28).

Description

A tree reaching to over 30 m high by 1 m girth, of damper sites of the savanna and closed secondary forests, common throughout from Senegal to W Cameroons, and widespread elsewhere in tropical Africa.The tree with its spreading crown is grown in villages on the Cameroon Mountain as a shade tree (21). It is one of the known hosts of Armillaria heimii Pegler, the causitive fungus of collar-crack disease of cacao, so that its presence on cacao plantations as a shade-bearer may not be desirable.The bole is clear and unbuttressed. It can be sawn into planks and used for ordinary building purposes (6, 8–10). Sap-wood is yellowish, heart-wood pinkish-white to brownish-red, hard, heavy, of medium texture, not difficult to work and is suitable for cabinetry, finishing smoothly and taking a fine polish. It is not resistant to insects and decay (9, 10, 15, 24). It is cut for roof-shingles in Ghana (5) and chew-sticks (6), and in the Congo region it is used for boatbuilding as the wood is said to bend ideally after steaming for shaping ribs (10). It is a good firewood (10–12), and charcoal is made of it in Sierra Leone (24). The wood-ash yields a vegetable salt (15).The bark is stringy and fibrous. It is commonly used in West Africa as a purgative (Senegal: 19; Sierra Leone: 10, 24; Liberia: 8, 10; Nigeria: 22), and is held to be anthelmintic in central Africa (28). It has anodynal properties. Dried and powdered it is rubbed on the body in febrile conditions (10, 22, 24), and in central Africa a bark-preparation is rubbed into scarifications as a stimulant and tonic (28). The Fula of Sierra Leone use the bark for toothache (16). In central Africa a decoction is used for the relief of post-partum pains, and bark-ash with local salt and palm-oil, which at the moment of application produces a burning sensation, is a topical embrocation for lumbar pain (28). In Congo (Brazzaville) a bark-decoction is used to relieve stomach and kidney complaints and to facilitate parturition (3). Treatment with a bark-decoction is said to bring about a more-or-less prolonged arrest of the menstrual cycle (3), though conversely in central Africa it is said to be taken to relieve amenorrhoea (28). In Malawi powdered bark-extract is applied to swellings and inflammation (15).The roots are used as a purgative in Senegal, and are deemed to have stimulatory properties (18, 19). In Ivory Coast they are used as chew-sticks, and in this manner also to be aphrodisiac (20). They are used in Guinea for stomach-ache (7) and are commonly applied in E Africa for treatment of internal troubles (15, 25), stomach-ache (26), and heart-pains (27). Root-decoctions are used in Tanganyika for schistosomiasis, gonorrhoea and hard abscesses, and, with leaf-sap added, for malaria (14).The young leaves are fed by Fula to their cattle in Sierra Leone (16), and the foliage, flowers and fruit are reported to be appreciated by antelope in Nigeria (12). In some parts of Tanganyika it is said that the tree is specially planted to provide fodder (13).An eye-wash is prepared in Ivory Coast-Upper Volta from a leaf-decoction (20). The leaves are said in Malawi to cure earache, and in Zaïre to be able to stanch wounds (15). Leaf and twig poultices are applied to ulcers caused by jiggers in Tanganyika (2, 28), and in Congo (Brazzaville) to furuncles and abcesses to hasten maturation (3). A leaf-decoction is taken in Ivory Coast for blennorrhoea and for poisoning, while a wash of the decoction is a stimulant in case of general fatigue (1). In Ubangi a decoction of roots and leafy twigs is also used for blennorrhoea (23). The young shoots make chew-sticks in Ghana (15, 30).The flowers are fragrant and in E Africa are much visited by bees and other insects. The fruit is edible, and is eaten in West and East Africa. It is a relished food of the guinea-fowl and the francolin. Seed in Kenya have attracted the bushbuck (12).Many alkaloids have been isolated from this plant, and of them phylochrysine and securinine are the most important. The former is a central nervous system stimulant which may account in part for the plant’s stimulatory properties (4, 19, 29). The bark yields about 10% tannin (28).