Common Name:

General Information

Asteranthe asterias is an evergreen shrub or tree growing up to 8 metres tall. The bole can be 20cm in diameter[].
The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food flavouring, medicine and source of wood.
Although a common species within its range, it is very much restricted to forest and is not distributed throughout the extent of each forest where it occurs. It can be considered severely fragmented and is under continuing decline due to forest loss and disturbance. It almost qualifies for the classification of 'Vulnerable', but is presently classified as 'Near Threatened' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical east Africa - Kenya, Tanzania.

Habitat

Locally common, and sometimes dominant in the shrub layer of lowland evergreen forest and bushland at elevations up to 650 metres[]. It is commonly found along streams and on limestone soils[].

Properties

Conservation Status	Near Threatened
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	6.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

The aromatic bark and leaves are used locally for flavouring food[].

Medicinal

A paste made from the pounded roots is applied to swellings[].

The bark of the stems and roots has shown in-vitro activity against Plasmodium falciparum and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, the parasites that cause malaria and sleeping sickness, respectively[].
Two diprenylated indoles, 2’,3’-epoxyasteranthine and 2’, 3’-dihydroxyasteranthine, were isolated from the stem bark and root bark. These compounds exhibited remarkable antifungal activity against Saprolegnia and Rhizoctonia spp., comparable with that of the standard antimycotic agent naftifine[].

Other Uses

The stems are used as building poles[].

Propagation

Seed -

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