Common Name:

General Information

Premna angolensis is a tree with a spreading crown and more or less horizontal branches; it usually grows up to 21 metres tall, exceptionally to 33 metres. Sometimes the plant has a more shrubby habit, often with climbing branches. The bole is often crooked, it can be up to 120 cm in diameter, and is sometimes fluted, usually hollow[].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and source of wood.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Senegal through Cameroon to Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya, south to Angola, DR Congo and Tanzania.

Habitat

Forests, mainly in margins and clearings; bushland and grassland, at elevations up to 2,100 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 bark is often used in traditional medicine to treat various disorders, ranging from malaria and other fevers; digestive problems including dysentery and stomach aches; and various brain disorders including epilepsy and insanity. It is also often taken in less conventional manners, including as an enemas, in baths and fumigations and as instillations into the nostrils[].

Other Uses

The plant is cosidered taboo for some people in Gabon, where its use in the kitchen is not allowed. The bad smell of leaves and twigs thrown on a fire is believed to keep away bad spirits[]. This suggests a possible use as an insect repellant[].

The heartwood is pale yellow-brown; it is not clearly demarcated from the sapwood, which is only slightly paler in colour. The grain is usually straight, but sometimes interlocked; texture medium and even; the smell has been described by some as sweet, by others as unpleasant. The wood is durable, due to the presence of oil, although logs are usually hollow or have rotten cores. The sapwood is not susceptible to Lyctus borer attack. The wood works and planes well; it is recorded to be suitable for peeling and slicing; holds nails well; glues satisfactorily; and paints, polishes and varnishes well. The steam-bending properties are moderate to poor. The wood seasons well, with little distortion, but some checking may occur. The wood is suitable for construction, flooring, mine props, ship and boat building, furniture and cabinet work, interior trim, toys and novelties, agricultural implements, boxes and crates, carvings, turnery, draining boards, food containers, veneer and plywood. In Kenya it is used for carving and beehives, and it has been used in construction work in mines. In Tanzania it is used for animal traps, tool handles[].
The wood is used for fuel[].

Propagation

Seed -

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