Common Name:

General Information

Mareya micrantha is a shrub or understorey tree that can grow up to about 8 metres tall, exceptionally to 12 metres[, ].
Although very poisonous, the plant is often harvested from the wild and used in traditional medicine. The plant is sometimes grown as a hedge.

Known Hazards

The leaves and fruit are bitter and very poisonous, causing drastic purging if eaten[, ].
An over-dose, or criminal poisoning, will cause complete exhaustion by purging. Antidotal treatment has been reported to be red palm-oil or raw cassava[].

Botanical References

Range

West tropical Africa - Guinea-Bissau to Cameroon and DR Congo.

Habitat

An understorey plant of the closed-forest, also found in secondary forest regrowth, at elevations up to 500 metres[, ].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	15.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The plant is very active and preliminary analysis of the leaves have shown the presence of anthraquinone glycosides and cucurbitacin-like substances[].
Leaf extracts have caused hypotension[].
A root extract has caused paralysis of the respiratory centre[].
The methanol and hot and cold aqueous extracts of the leaves has shown antibacterial activity against Enterobacter aerogenes, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Bacillus subtilis, Clostridium sporogenes, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus[].
Ethanolic leaf extracts showed low antiplasmodial activity against a chloroquine-resistant strain of Plasmodium falciparum and no anti-amoebic activity in vitro. The extract showed considerable cytotoxicity to mammalian cells[].

A decoction of the leaves, or the leaf-sap, is a violent purgative and abortifacient[]. A dozen leaves, boiled in half a litre of water, is said to be a safe dose for a purgative, but any stronger is dangerous and it is never given to pregnant women, children, or old people[, ]. When used to procure an abortion, a single leaf is afterwards placed in food to ensure the removal of the afterbirth, and a small dose is repeated for some days following[]. As a purgative, it is considered a valuable treatment in cases which require a violent action on the intestines, e.g., ascaris infection, blennorrhoea, gonorrhoea, and especially leprosy[, ]. A leaf decoction, or the fermented leaves with rum and coconut, is taken in the treatment of malaria, cough and general weakness[, ]. A leaf infusion is taken as an analgesic to treat headache and stomach-ache[].
Water in which the dried leaves have been boiled is given to children as a worm-treatment[].
The leaves are crushed up to a paste with a little soil and water then rubbed into areas of rheumatic pains or kidney pains[]. The burnt leaves, mixed with clay, are applied to scabies and measles[]. A paste of leaves, often combined with pepper and citron, is applied, with frequent renewal, to guinea-worm sores, and also to to fractures, stiffness, sprains, sores and ulcers, lumbago, kidney-pain and rheumatic pains[, ].

The bark, combined with other plants, is used topically as a treatment for leprosy[].
The bark, combined with that of Zanthoxylum gilletii, the leaf of Microdesmis puberula and new black soil from on top of a termite heap, is ground to a paste and used in a topical massage to treat paralysis of the limbs[].

The plant has analgesic and anaesthetic properties. It is widely used internally as an anodyne for headache and stomach-pains, and externally topically on fractures, stiffness, sprains, lumbago and rheumatism; also on sores and ulcers[].

The powdered root is used externally in cases of snake-bite and the stings of venomous animals[, ].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is sometimes grown as a hedge[].

Other Uses

The sterns are commonly used for yam stakes[, ].

The wood is white, soft and perishable. It sinks when fresh, but later floats[, ].

Propagation

Seed -

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