Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
is entire, crenate-serrate, or sharply serrate. It produces white or pinkish flowers in stout upright
racemes (up to 25 cm long). The fruits are globose and tardily dehiscent with a woody capsule with
four valves spreading horizontally and persisting. The pericarp is densely hairy and reddish when
ripe; seeds are scarlet with yellow arils.
77
Habitat and Distribution —
The plant is widespread throughout tropical Africa, preferring
higher rainfall or evergreen forests. It is distributed from Senegal to Zaire and parts of southern Africa.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
Aqueous extract of the stem bark is administered as a purgative, and
it is claimed to be anthelmintic, with the worms expelled during purgation. It is also used as an
aphrodisiac. The root bark is added to tobacco as snuff and dispensed for the treatment of severe
headache. The twigs of the plant are used as a ritual plant in Liberia during treatment of fractures,
in which the plant is used as a dressing to a fowl's leg that is deliberately broken as a vicarious treat-
ment for a man's broken limb;
6
it is believed that the fractured limb will heal in the same manner
as that of the bird. The plant is used as an ingredient in remedies for the treatment of hemorrhoids,
dysentery, epilepsy, and colds.
Constituents —
Bersema
has been shown to contain a mixture of cardenolides, including abys-
sinol A, B, C; bersaldegenin; hellerigenin; and bufadienolide-O
-
acetate,
275-278
as well as saponins,
279
manferin,
280
and gallic acid derivatives.
281
Pharmacological Studies —
The plant extracts exhibit strong insect antifeedant activity,
285
the activity being due to the cardenolides, with abyssinin as one of the most active isolates.
278
The
extracts also showed activity as insect sex attractants. The bufadienolides isolated from the plant
exhibited antitumor activity against a variety of experimental tumor systems.
283-285
The plant has
also been found to possess antimicrobial activity.
286
BORRERIA VERTICILLATA
Botanical Name —
Borreria verticillata
(L.) G.F.W. Mey.
Synonyms —
Spermacoce verticillata
L.,
Spermacoce globosa
Schum. et Thonn.
Family —
Rubiaceae
African Names —
Bambara: som som; Hausa: damfark'ami, feshe; Peuhl: samtarde, gudurdel;
Yoruba: irawo-ile
Description —
This is a perennial busy subshrub, 1 m high, that branches out in slightly regular
stalks with oblanceolate smooth leaves 10 to 15 mm in diameter and small white flowers. The fruit
is a drupe, dry and dehiscent. Seeds are mostly with endosperm and are ruminate. The embryo is
either straight or curved.
Habitat and Distribution —
The species grows in tropical Africa and Madagascar. In the West
Coast, the plant grows only in the wet season.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
The juice obtained from the aerial parts is applied topically for the
treatment of skin diseases. The plant is reputed to be very effective as an antieczematic. It is also
used as a diuretic and abortifacient. A related species,
B. compacta,
is also used externally in south-
ern Africa. Another species,
B. natalensis,
is employed by the Zulu in the form of an enema for
infantile hyperprexia and in the treatment of leprosy, furuncles, and paralysis.
247
Constituents —
The plant contains indole alkaloids, of which borrerine and borreverine are the
major compounds.
287
The root bark has been shown to contain iridoids,
288
including asperuloside,
feretoside, and daphyloside. The reported presence of emetine in the earlier literature
289
has not
been confirmed by recent studies. The leaves yield a volatile oil that consists of hydrocarbon sesqui-
terpene, lactones, phenolic compounds, and aromatic polycarboxylic acids.
Pharmacological Studies —
The essential oil inhibited the growth of the bacterial
Escherichia
coli
and
Staphylococcus aureus
.
290
It had no action on the blood pressure and respiration of the cat
and had an effect on guinea pig intestine and striated frog muscle.
