Common Name: Haronga

General Information

Haronga is an evergreen shrub or tree with a much branched, heavy, spreading canopy; it usually grows up to 12 metres tall, with occasional specimens up to 27 metres. The bole is straight and cylindrical bole[, ].
A multipurpose tree, being particularly valued for its medicinal uses and as a dye[]. The tree is frequently found close to old villages in Gabon as relics from former cultivation[]. It is still occasionally planted as a medicinal plant and for obtaining gutta-percha, whilst it is also grown as a forest tree in tropical Africa[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Senegal to Sudan and Kenya, south to Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar.

Habitat

Lowland and upland rain forest from sea level to elevations of 1,800 metres[]. Rain-forest (and remnants) in clearings; fringing forest in savannah formations; locally abundant in recent secondary forest regrowth[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	12.00 m
Growth Rate	Fast
Pollinators	Bees
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Semi-cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the moist tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 1,800 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 28°c, but can tolerate 12 - 36°c[]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 2,500mm, but tolerates 1,000 - 3,500mm[].
Requires a sunny position[]. Succeeds in a range of fertile soils[]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 6.5, tolerating 5 - 7.5[].
The plant forms dense thickets which exclude other species and can possibly become a permanent component of tropical rainforests, potentially making it weedy[].
A fast-growing tree, especially when young[].
The tree responds well to coppicing[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[]. A sweet flavour, they are eaten as a snack, especially by children[]. The fruits are edible, though they are also stomachic and mildly laxative, and in excess emetic[]. They are used in local cooking and are fermented to produce a sort of cider which taken on an empty stomach may sometimes cause vomiting[]. The yellow to orange-brown fruits are very small, 3 - 4mm in diameter, but carried in large, massed heads 25 - 30cm across[].

The sap of the bark is added to fermented beverages as a colouring[].

Medicinal

Haronga is widely used in Africa as a healing medicinal plant, especially for treating skin complaints and conditions where blood is manifest. The bark, sap and gum are particularly valued and are held to be aphrodisiac, astringent, oxytocic, emetic, emmenagogue, expectorant, haemostatic, purgative, styptic and vermifuge[].
Analysis of Nigerian material has shown the presence of a trace of alkaloids in the bark. No alkaloids were found in material from Madagascar, but abundant saponins were found in the leaves, and the presence of flavones, leucoanthocyanins and tannins in the stem[].
The yellow colouration has been ascribed to a phenolic pigment named harunganine[].
Several related substances are present and an extract called ‘harongan’ is being subjected to examination for stomach and pancreas disorders[].
Examination of Nigerian material for anti-biotic activities has shown action on Gram +ve Sarcina lutea and Staphylococcus aureus, no action against Gram -ve organisms, and no fungistatic action[].

Sap expressed from the inner bark is taken slightly warmed as a purgative, whilst water in which the bark has been boiled is used as a treatment for dysentery and is also given to babies suffering from constipation and wind[]. Sap washed out from bark taken from the east and west sides of the tree trunk (a relic of sun-worship?) has been used as a remedy for tape-worm, whilst the bark is also used as a vermifuge[].
The resinous sap is applied externally to treat all manner of cutaneous complaints including leprosy, sores, itch, scabies, ringworm, craw-craw, mange,? Prickly heat, mycoses, often after the affected area has been scarified to draw blood with, for example, the rough leaf of Ficus exasperata, the sand paper tree[].
The gum is applied to cuts, including fresh circumcision wounds, and ulcers[]. The dried gum is also used as a wound-dressing[].
Based on the Theory of Signatures, the yellow colour of the gum evokes usage of the bark, roots or the gum itself for treating jaundice[]. Likening the expissation of the gum to milk-flow, the bark or root is used in a treatment to stimulate breast-development[]. The bark or the gum is held to have purgative properties. In Senegal the bark, and the leaves, are used for stomach-ache[].
Resin from the flower is used for treating colic, puerperal infection, roundworm and as a rubefacient[].

Ash (of the bark?) is applied to areas of scabies[].
A bark-decoction, or of the root, is widely deemed helpful as a remedy for a range of troubles in which blood is manifest including haematuria; dysentery and piles; as an emmenagogue and oxytocic for a range of gynaecological conditions including expelling the placenta, miscarriage, dysmenorrhoea, irregular or painful menstruation; cough with bloody sputum[]. Both the bark and the gum are used for treating chest and breathing difficulties - a decoction being used for bronchial affections, coughs and asthma[].

The twigs, leaves and leaf-buds find similar medicinal uses to the bark and sap and are often used to treat the same range of conditions[].
The leaves and roots are also considered febrifugal and anti-malarial[]. They have been used for treating heart-troubles. The leafy shoots are chewed as a masticatory with kola nut for treating urethral discharge[].

The roots are used to hasten breast development in young women[].

The fruit is laxative, stomachic and, in large quantities, emetic[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is a vigorous coloniser[]. It is amongst the first pioneers to occupy savannah land after destruction of the vegetation by bush fires, thus affording protection and cover for the soil[]. It also invades grassland thereby accelerating reversion to secondary bush-savannah[]. In Sierra Leone, at least, the tree is often ant-infested[]. It can possibly be used as a pioneer species in the first stage of restoring woodland cover[].

Other Uses

The bark is easily peeled off in long strips. It is rather wet and turgid. The main inner part yields a brilliant orange gum which turns red on exposure, but the innermost layer of bark and the outer layers of the wood yield a yellow sap from which a more delicate dye or stain is obtained which is used for dying velvet[].
The gummy latex is used in all areas to furnish a yellow dye also for use on cloths, matting and many other articles, the usual practice being to chop up pieces of the bark which are boiled in water with the thing to be dyed[]. The latex is also used as a yellow paint[].
The exudate thickens and a balsam has been recovered from it[]. It makes a good stain for wood and has been used as a sealing-wax[]. The yellow dye can be made brown by mixing in powdered camwood[].
The inner bark is boiled in water and the resultant yellow liquid is added to pounded cassava to form a stiff, gluey paste. This is applied to newly fired pots while they are still hot as a sort of finish[]. The significance of this is not clear, but one result is to stain them a dark yellow[].

The bark is sufficiently fibrous to be used sometimes in Ghana for tying roofs[].
The bark and roots are chewed as a substitute for toothpaste and are also used as a lipstick[].

The wood is orange-red to yellow, and is particularly attractive[]. It works well and finishes easily, but unfortunately timber in sufficiently large enough pieces is not commonly available[]. The wood is light in weight and durable in contact with the ground, though in exposed positions it is liable to insect-attack[]. It is nevertheless widely used in hut-construction for poles, roof-joists, planks etc[]. The branches diverge at an angle of 60 - 80° from the main stem, and suitable pieces have been cut for use as hockey-sticks[].
The wood is used for fuel and to make charcoal[, ]. Giving out a lot of heat, it is useful as a fuel in local metallurgy for softening metals[].

Propagation

Seed - it has a short viability and is best kept in sealed containers and sown within two months of harvest[].

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