Morphological information

An evergreen climber with rambling stems up to 15 m high and 10 cm dicum. Bark pale brown, fairly smooth with numerous conspicuous paler circular lenticels and armed with small hooked prickles about 2.5 mm long, raised on old stems on the top of a conical woody pedestal up to 1.2 cm high. Blaze 2.5-7.5 mm crisp, pale yellow closely mottled with sclerotic orange portions in the outer half, turning pinkish brown on exposure. Leaves alternate, digitately trifoliolate. Petiole 1.5-3 cm long. Leaflets sessile, 5-10 by 1.8-3.8 cm obovate-oblong or cremulate, shortly blunt acuminate, base acute, glabrous, conaceous, dark shinning green above with many slender parallel nerves inconspicuous beneath. Flowers 3.8-6 mm diameter pale greenish yellow, in axillary and terminal pubescent panicles 2.5-6.3 cm long. Fruit 7.5-12 mm diameter, subglobose with 5 shallow grooves, yellowish. Seeds several, surrounded by colorless mucilage.

Flowering                                : February-May

Fruiting                                   : August-December

History                                   :

Parts                                       : Root bark, root, leaves.

Status                                     : Low risk

Phytochemistry

 Pimpinellin, isopimpinellin, 5,7-dimethoxy-6-(3'-chloro-2'-hydroxy-3-methylbutyl) cournarin, toddasin, toddanone, toddalolactone, 9-hydroxy-4-methoxypsoralen, arnotianamide, dictamnine, y-fagarine, skimmianine and acetamide isolated.

Agrocultivation                      : The plant can be easily propagated through seed.

Traditional

The fresh leaves are eaten for pains in the bowels. The juice of the flower is sometimes applied to stings of wasps, to have an immediate relief (C.S.).

Other

The root bark has diaphoretic, stomachic and antipyretic properties. It is considered to be a potent antimallarial drug and has antiperiodic effect. An infusion of the root bark administered in mild cases of malaria was found beneficial. An infusion of the fresh root bark is stimulation tonic and carminative. The root bark is also used in case of diarrhoea and constitutional debility during convalescence. In Gabon (Africa), the macerated root bark is used as a remedy against gonorrhea. The root is also used fbr the treatment of cough and influenza. The alcoholic extracts of leaves and roots have been found to possess anti bacterial properties.

 

 

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