Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Habitat and Distribution —
It grows mainly in secondary forests and savanna. The plant has
been located in the Jos and Kaduna areas of Nigeria, and in the southern part of the continent, it has
been collected from Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
The boiled tuber is used in southeastern Nigeria as a fever remedy.
In West Africa, a decoction of the plant together with native carbonate of soda (natron) is adminis-
tered as a remedy for gonorrhea. The root is eaten with bran to acquire prolonged immunity against
scorpion sting.
MITRAGYNA CILIATA
Botanical Name —
Mitragyna ciliata
Aubr. & Pell.
Synonyms —
Adina ledermanni
K. Krause,
Mitragyna ledermanni
(K. Krause) Risd.
Family —
Rubiaceae
Common Names —
Poplar (Liberia), African linden (
M. stipulosa
)
African Names —
Bini: eben; Efik: uwen; Igbo: uburu; Kimbundu: mulangu; Mzima: baya;
Shambala: mlombelombe; Twi (Wassaw): subaha; Yoruba: abura
Description —
Mitragyna ciliata
is an evergreen tree that grows up to 30 m high or more and
about 1 m in diameter, with cylindrical, straight bole and clear branches for up to 20 m or more,
rarely buttressed. The bark is grayish brown with flat, thin scales; the slash is cream yellow with
a pinkish under layer that turns brown on exposure and is thick and fibrous. The crown is small,
compact, and irregular. It bears red leaves when young. Mature leaves are large, simple, opposite,
petiolate with large, conspicuous interpetiolate stipules; the petiole is 1.5-4 cm long, with stipules
ovate-elliptic to obovate, 4-10 cm long, 3-7 cm wide, tomentose; the blade is broadly elliptic to
suborbicular, 10-65 cm long, 8-44 cm wide, with apex rounded or obtuse, base truncate to cuneate,
margins slightly wavy, medium green above, pale below, glabrous except a tuft of hairs in the leaf
axils; midrib and 7-12 pairs of lateral nerves prominent below. It flowers in March and November
and produces white flowers that are hermaphrodite, 5-7 merous, with each flower surrounded by up
to about 15 wedge-shaped bracts about 4 mm long, with the bract ciliate at the apex. The fruits occur
in June and July, and heads are up to 2.3 cm in diameter, with many amphora-shaped capsules 5-8
mm long with numerous seeds, 1.5 mm long, flat, and slightly winged.
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Habitat and Distribution —
This species, as well as
M. inermis, M.stipulosa,
and about
four other related species, is indigenous to the continent. The subject species grows in freshwater
swamps in closed rain forests. It is common in narrow fringing belts along streams in high forest
areas, grass plains, and low-lying swampy areas of deciduous and evergreen rain forests. It has
been found in swampy areas at high altitudes (e.g., at 500 m at Udi plateau in Nigeria and at 600 m
at Vane in Ghana). It is also present along riverine forests within the savanna. The plant is distrib-
uted throughout the coastal regions of West Africa, in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana,
Nigeria, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea and in Zaire, Congo Republic, Angola, Tanzania, and
some parts of southern Africa.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
The bark and the leaves are used in West Africa for the treatment of
bacterial infections, especially gonorrhea and dysentery. In Cameroon and parts of Central Africa
Republic, the bark boiled with
Capsicum
(pepper) seeds and those of piper guineense is reputed
to be a remedy for chest complaints. It is listed by Walker as an ingredient with the bark infusion
of
Coula edulis
,
Isolana letestui
, and
Berteria fistulosa
with an extract of the leaves of
Alchornea
cordifolia
in a remedy used by the Bupunus to cure sterility in women.
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A major use of
Mitragyna
species in Africa is as a febrifuge and for the treatment of malaria. A decoction of the stem bark
mixed with
Garcinia kola
seed extract is used in southeastern Nigeria for the treatment of African
sleeping sickness.
