Origin

Africa

Folk medicinal uses

Roots - Roots of the related May tenus senegalensis (Lam.) Exell (the Confetti tree) chipped into beer have been used in Zambia as an aphrodisiac (Lewis & Elvin-Lewis, 1977~\ The roots, which are slightly bitter, are also mildly laxative and are used in various parts of tropical Africa for gastro-intestinal troubles, especially dysentery (Irv.ine, 1961),

Leaves - and a pOUltice of the green leaves has been put on sores in Tanzania (Altschul & Lipp, 1982). ~. thompsonii (Merrill) Fosberg has been employed medicinally in the Mariana Islands (Altschul & LIpp, 1982). In Brazil leaves of M. ilicifolia Reiss. have been used as a wash for cutaneous cancers (Hartwell, 1968) and in Paraguay extracts of the plant have been used for birth control purposes (Gonzalez Gonzalez et al., 1982).

Some medicinal forest plants of Africa and Latin America 67/ FAO. – FAO: Rome, 1986. – p. 152.