Common Name:

General Information

Leptadenia hastata is a many-stemmed climber, producing soft stems but becoming woody at the base[].
The plant is able to continue growing in harsh, dry conditions when other plants are dying. It is often seen and used as a famine food, but the plant is also commonly harvested from the wild as a local food and is frequently eaten, especially by poorer people, even when other food is available[]. It is sometimes sold in local markets. The plant is not generally cultivated, but its presence is often encouraged by sowing the seeds close to habitations[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Senegal to Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya.

Habitat

Dry savannah in semi-arid areas[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Perennial Climber
Height	0.00 m
Cultivation Status	Semi-cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of semi-arid areas in the tropics.
Succeeds in poor soil conditions[]. Established plants are drought tolerant[].

Edible Uses

Young leaves and young shoots - cooked and added to soups. The young shoot-tips are sometimes eaten raw[]. The chopped and boiled leaves are mixed with beans, pigeon peas or cowpeas[].
The leaves of plants grown at Dakar have been analysed as containing: carbohydrates 46%, protein 18%, ash 14%, oil 6% by weight. Calcium was present at 2.06%, potassium 1.74%, with magnesium, sodium, phosphorous and numerous minor elements, the principal one being iron, and amino-acids[].

Flowers - cooked and added to soups[].

In a survey on the preference for 14 wild herbaceous vegetables that was held in Burkina Faso in 1999, this species ranked 3rd; its taste was considered good, and its tolerance of drought, insects and poor soil conditions as very good[].

Medicinal

The plant contains a milky sap and this has lead, by allusion, to it being used in the treatment of a wide range of ailments symptomized by discharges, or a lack of them[]. The plant is very strongly diuretic and generally strongly stimulates the flow of urine[].
In it also often used with a range of other plants to treat various conditions, including treating suckling babies who have green diarrhoea; for all vein troubles such as varicose veins, bleeding and painful haemorrhoids; poisonings; anuria; syphilis; leprosy; trypanosomiasis, etc. In short, it is used as a general panacea[].
Combined with the root of Smilax spp., it is used to treat for tertiary syphilis[].
The latex contains the triterpene lupeol and derivatives of it, which possess anti-inflammatory activity[].

The sap, or the whole leaf-petiole rolled up into a spill, is put in the nose as a treatment for head-colds and head pains. The latex is put on wounds[]. The sap, or the root in decoction, is used for treating ophthalmia[].

A root macerate is taken to treat anuria or constipation[].The powdered roots in water are taken as a stomachic[].

A macerate or decoction of the whole plant is used to treat urethral discharge, abdominal complaints[].

A macerate or decoction of the leaves is used to remedy a lack of breast-milk, impotence, gonorrhoea and stomach-ache in children[].

Other Uses

A fibre, without recorded use, can be obtained from the stem[].

The dried fruits are used as a tinder[].

Propagation

Seed -

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