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Useful Tropical Plants

Chrozophora plicata

(Vahl) A.Juss. ex Spreng.

Euphorbiaceae

+ Synonyms

Chrozophora burmanni Spreng.

Chrozophora obliqua Schweinf.

Chrozophora obliquifolia (Vis.) Baill.

Chrozophora obliquifolia Kotschy ex Pax & K.Hoffm.

Chrozophora parvifolia Klotzsch ex Schweinf.

Chrozophora prostrata Dalzell & A.Gibson

Chrozophora rottleri (Geiseler) A.Juss. ex Spreng.

Croton asper J.König ex Roxb.

Croton hastatus Burm.f.

Croton lanuginosus K.Schum. ex Schweinf..

Croton moluccanus Willd.

Croton obliquifolius Vis.

Croton plicatus Vahl

Croton tinctorius Burm.f.

Tournesol plicata (Vahl) Kuntze

Common Name:

Chrozophora plicata
Line drawing of the leaves, flowers and fruits
Photograph by: M. Rafiq; Flora of Pakistan
Creative Commons License

General Information

Chrozophora is a monoecious, annual to short-lived perennial herb growing up to 50 cm tall[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine, dye and source of oil.

Known Hazards

Fresh shoots are toxic to many grazing mammals, though camels eat it[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Botanical References


Range

Africa - Senegal to Somalia, south to N. South Africa. Also Egypt and Saudi Arabia to tropical Asia.

Habitat

Flood plains of rivers, along drainage channels, usually in damp or desiccating black clay soils and alluvial soils, on mudflats and sandbanks, up to 1,200 metres[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. Also found as a weed of arable land[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Properties

Edibility Rating *
Medicinal Rating *  *
Other Uses Rating *
HabitAnnual/Perennial
Height0.50 m
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details


Edible Uses

A red and a blue dye are obtained from the petals fruit and sap[
301
Title
Cornucopia II
Publication
 
Author
Facciola. S.
Publisher
Kampong Publications, California.
Year
1998
ISBN
0-9628087-2-5
Description
The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
]. Called 'tournesol', it is used for colouring liqueurs, wines, pastries and Dutch cheeses[
301
Title
Cornucopia II
Publication
 
Author
Facciola. S.
Publisher
Kampong Publications, California.
Year
1998
ISBN
0-9628087-2-5
Description
The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
].

Medicinal

The pounded stems or whole plants are applied to wounds to improve healing[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. The plant is also used in the treatment of jaundice and to purify the blood[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

An infusion of the seeds and leaves is taken as a laxative[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Other Uses

The fruits yield a purplish blue dye, which is used in East Africa to dye mats[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

The seed oil resembles cotton-seed oil in its proportions of linoleic, oleic and saturated acids[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. The total linolenic and linoleic acid content varied from 60 - 75%[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Propagation

Seed -
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-03-29. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Chrozophora+plicata>

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