Common Name:

General Information

Combretum adenogonium is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to about 10 metres tall[].
The plant is gathered from the wild for local use as a food and medicine, as well as for various commodities[]. In the dry season, when the trees are bare of leaves, there is usually an intense burst of sweetly-scented yellow flowers, which attract many insects to the nectar[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - savannah areas from Guinea-Bissau to Ethiopia, then south to Botswana, Mozambique.

Habitat

Deciduous woodland and wooded grassland with Lonchocarpus, Rhus, Acacia, Grewia molle, sometimes on rocks; often associated with seasonally waterlogged and heavy clay soils; also on rocky slopes; at elevations from 50 - 2,300 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Tree
Height	10.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Grows at low to moderate elevations in moist tropical areas with a distinct dry season.
Succeeds in a wide range of soils in the wild, including those that are seasonally inundated[].

Edible Uses

The bark exudes a soluble, red-coloured gum which is more or less edible[].

The root is used to prepare a beverage called djendjeng, Mende, a beverage[].

Medicinal

The leaves are used in a medicine for fevers[].

The branches, free of fruit, are used to prepare an infusion in Liberia for washing the body to relieve pain[].

An infusion of the bark is taken with natron to relieve lekki beernde (pains in chest)[].
The bark, together with a mistletoe which commonly parasitizes the tree, is made into an infusion for washing the body[].

The bark and roots provide a decoction used in treating abdominal pains and low backache[].
The fresh roots, ground up and dried, are put on sores or prepared as a decoction for treating primary sores of syphilis[].

Other Uses

The wood is used as an incense[]. Smoke from the wood is used as a perfume[].

The bark exudes a soluble, red-coloured gum which is more or less edible. The tree is said to be the source of much of the gum collected in the Niger basin south of 14° N[].

The leaves yield a yellow dye on boiling[].

The leaves and leafy twigs are sometimes mixed with thatching grass[].

The wood is said to be unbreakable by the elephant: it just bends[]. It is used for hut-poles and for firewood generally[].

Propagation

Seed -
The seed of most, if not all, species can be stored inside the fruit for several years without losing viability[].

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