Origin

Africa

Folk medicinal uses

Brak - Dried bark is commonly chewed and the juice swallowed as a remedy for stomach-ache, constipation, coughs, colds, fever, muscle pains, weak joints and general body pains. The bark may also be chewed for toothache. It is also used in powdered form for treatment of the same diseases. Root - Fresh roots are boiled and the decoction mixed with soup which is drunk by the Kikuyu of Kenya for the prevention of diarrhoea.

Leaves - Leaves are boiled and the decoction used for bathing as a cure for several unspecified skin diseases.

Inner bark - The inner bark is reddish, bitter and peppery and has a variety of applications as described above. It provides treatment for the common cold; dried and ground to a snuff it is used to clear sinuses; it is chewed, or smoke from the burning bark is inhaled as a remedy for chest complaints. The bark and roots can be boiled in water and the decoction drunk for the treatment of malaria.

Some medicinal forest plants of Africa and Latin America 67/ FAO. – FAO: Rome, 1986. – p. 256