Origin

Africa and Latin America

Folk medicinal uses

The latex is used in the Lower Congo to reduce tumors and obstructions of the throat

and on the Equator for stomach affections (Staner and Boutique 1937).

The latex and a bark infusion are considered to help lactation in Equatorial Africa, so do the leaves cut up and cooked with groundnuts (Walker 1953). A leaf decoction is used in Sierra Leone as a wash for fevers (Dalziel 1936). The bark is sometimes considered expectorant and it is used for cough in Chana (Irvine 1961). It is also applied as an enema for the cure of piles, diarrhoea and dysentry. The pounded bark mixed with the kernel of Okoubaka aubrevillei fruits is taken internally in alcohol to cure piles (Traditional). The bark infusion is used in the Congo as a purgative. (Fl. Congo BeIge 1.57). The crushed bark in water or palm wine is drunk for heart troubles, lumbago and general fatigue. A bark decoction is used as a drink or sitz-bath for elephantiasis of the scrotum. It is used with Alchornea cordifolia, Annona senegalensis and Microglosa volubilis for leprosy. (Kerharo and Bouquet 1950). The bark is an ingredient in a wash for chancre Dalziel 1936). swelling in Liberia.

Some medicinal forest plants of Africa and Latin America 67/ FAO. – FAO: Rome, 1986. – p. 90.