Description

A thorny shrub, much branched to 3–4 m high, or small tree to 13 m high under conditions of higher rainfall, of deciduous, secondary and fringing forest from Senegal to W Cameroon, and generally widely distributed in tropical Africa and Arabia.The large white flowers are sweetly scented and the plant is an attractive ornamental found occasionally planted in West Africa in gardens and villages. It has been tried as hedging (8) but with indifferent results (6). The plant has been taken into cultivation in the USA and becomes deciduous at places where the temperature falls to near 0°C (13). The wood is hard and light brown, takes a good polish and is suitable for inlay and cabinetry (6). Small chips of wood are boiled in water by the Tenda which they drink for a week for stomach-ache and loss of appetite; the chips are then cast away at a cross-roads (15).The fruits, which reach a diameter of about 6 cm, mature with a hard shell of a rich red-brown colour and sometimes with surface sculpturings. All over Africa these fruits are hollowed out for use as snuff-boxes, or filled with pebbles or hard seeds as rattles — hence the English snuff-box tree, French arbre tabatière (snuff-box tree) and many West African vernaculars referring to these uses. The hollowed-out fruit are used in Ghana in the Twi game of saara (9). Children put the whole fruit into a fire and when the fruit fizzes, they throw them to burst with a loud report (9). In Kenya the dried fruit serve as spinning tops (2).The fruit-pulp is edible with a rather sour acidulous taste and is eaten particularly in NE Africa. The Tenda take it with karite butter, Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn.f. var. parkii (G Don) Hepper (Sapotaceae) for stomach-ache and loss of appetite (15). The seeds contain 35–37% of a brownish-yellow fixed oil (4). It has been used for treatment of leprosy but the oil contains no chaulmoogric acid and is considered useless against the leprosy bacillus (1, 6, 14). The oil is drying and might find some application in making paint and varnishes (14), but separation of seed from pulp appears to pose difficulties (6). The seed-oil has also been used in Nigeria for other skin-complaints and taken internally for fever (1).In Ivory Coast the plant has a good reputation as an aphrodisiac (5). A decoction of leafy twigs is also used to wash sores (12). The use of a leaf and root-decoction is recorded for West Africa for urethral discharges and a root-decoction for dysenteries and bladder conditions (6, 14). In Tanganyika leaf-sap and root-decoction in conjunction with Schrebera trichoclada Welw. (Oleaceae, but not in W Africa) is taken for vertigo (7). In Senegal the root is considered anti-dysenteric, and the dried powdered root taken with meat is a strengthening tonic (10, 11).The plant has a great reputation in Congo (Brazzaville) as a panacea for all sicknesses and as protector against evil influences and spirits. No part of the plant must be cut without making an offering and explaining to the plant the reason and expectations (3).Traces of flavones in the leaves, of tannins, steriods and terpenes in the leaves, bark and roots, have been reported in material from Congo (Brazzaville) (4). The plant has given negative results in anti-biotic tests (11, 14).

Description

A thorny shrub, much branched to 3–4 m high, or small tree to 13 m high under conditions of higher rainfall, of deciduous, secondary and fringing forest from Senegal to W Cameroon, and generally widely distributed in tropical Africa and Arabia.The large white flowers are sweetly scented and the plant is an attractive ornamental found occasionally planted in West Africa in gardens and villages. It has been tried as hedging (8) but with indifferent results (6). The plant has been taken into cultivation in the USA and becomes deciduous at places where the temperature falls to near 0°C (13). The wood is hard and light brown, takes a good polish and is suitable for inlay and cabinetry (6). Small chips of wood are boiled in water by the Tenda which they drink for a week for stomach-ache and loss of appetite; the chips are then cast away at a cross-roads (15).The fruits, which reach a diameter of about 6 cm, mature with a hard shell of a rich red-brown colour and sometimes with surface sculpturings. All over Africa these fruits are hollowed out for use as snuff-boxes, or filled with pebbles or hard seeds as rattles — hence the English snuff-box tree, French arbre tabatière (snuff-box tree) and many West African vernaculars referring to these uses. The hollowed-out fruit are used in Ghana in the Twi game of saara (9). Children put the whole fruit into a fire and when the fruit fizzes, they throw them to burst with a loud report (9). In Kenya the dried fruit serve as spinning tops (2).The fruit-pulp is edible with a rather sour acidulous taste and is eaten particularly in NE Africa. The Tenda take it with karite butter, Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn.f. var. parkii (G Don) Hepper (Sapotaceae) for stomach-ache and loss of appetite (15). The seeds contain 35–37% of a brownish-yellow fixed oil (4). It has been used for treatment of leprosy but the oil contains no chaulmoogric acid and is considered useless against the leprosy bacillus (1, 6, 14). The oil is drying and might find some application in making paint and varnishes (14), but separation of seed from pulp appears to pose difficulties (6). The seed-oil has also been used in Nigeria for other skin-complaints and taken internally for fever (1).In Ivory Coast the plant has a good reputation as an aphrodisiac (5). A decoction of leafy twigs is also used to wash sores (12). The use of a leaf and root-decoction is recorded for West Africa for urethral discharges and a root-decoction for dysenteries and bladder conditions (6, 14). In Tanganyika leaf-sap and root-decoction in conjunction with Schrebera trichoclada Welw. (Oleaceae, but not in W Africa) is taken for vertigo (7). In Senegal the root is considered anti-dysenteric, and the dried powdered root taken with meat is a strengthening tonic (10, 11).The plant has a great reputation in Congo (Brazzaville) as a panacea for all sicknesses and as protector against evil influences and spirits. No part of the plant must be cut without making an offering and explaining to the plant the reason and expectations (3).Traces of flavones in the leaves, of tannins, steriods and terpenes in the leaves, bark and roots, have been reported in material from Congo (Brazzaville) (4). The plant has given negative results in anti-biotic tests (11, 14).