Common Name:

General Information

Schwenckia americana is an erect, or ascending and spreading, annual or short-living perennial herb with grooved stems up to 90cm tall[].
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local medicinal use.

Known Hazards

The whole plant is pounded to pulp for use as an effective fish poison[].
Although providing many well-known foods for people, including the potato, tomato, pepper and aubergine, most plants in the family Solanaceae also contain poisonous alkaloids. Unless there are specific entries with information on edible uses, it would be unwise to ingest any part of this plant[].

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guyanas; C. America - Panama - Mexico; Caribbean - Cuba to Windward Isles.

Habitat

A weed in fields, woodland and disturbed localities, at elevations up to 1,100 metres[]. Dry rocky open hillsides or open thickets, sometimes in brushy pine forests, at elevations up to 1,500 metres in Guatemala[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Annual/Perennial
Height	0.75 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

The plant has become naturalized as a weed in many parts of Africa and in India[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The aerial parts are widely valued in West African traditional medicine to treat diseases of babies and small children.

A decoction of the whole plant is drunk to cure cough, asthma and weak lungs, as a purgative in cases of poisoning and as an anthelmintic[]. An infusion of the aerial parts is used as a mouth wash to cure infections such as aphthae[].
The plant sap or a decoction of the whole plant is applied as eye drops and nose drops to treat headache, sinusitis and conjunctivitis[]. In different preparations the crushed whole plant, either alone or combined with other plants, is applied externally to relieve intercostal pain or pain caused by swellings, rheumatism, arthritis, stomach problems, hernia and gonorrhoea[].

A leaf decoction is given to pregnant women when the foetus develops too slowly, and is also taken by breast-feeding women to prevent diarrhoea of the baby[]. The decoction is drunk and also applied externally in order to bring down fevers and to cure oedema[]. A leaf infusion is taken to treat female sterility[]. Both fresh and dried leaves are used as an anthelmintic[].
The crushed leafy stems are applied to the skin as a treatment for measles and chickenpox. A poultice made of the leaves is applied to whitlow and athlete’s foot[]. The powder on the leafy twigs is inhaled to cure convulsions with fever[].

The roots are chewed to cure respiratory diseases in children[]. A root decoction is given to babies as a purgative and is used by adults as a laxative[].

Preliminary research in the 1960's resulted in the detection of a glycoside, schwenckioside, traces of alkaloids and sapogenins, the latter with cardiotonic activity[].
A water extract of the leaves showed low antimicrobial activity against Proteus mirabilis and Staphylococcus aureus, but no inhibition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli[].

Other Uses

Roots and stems are used as chewing sticks for cleaning the teeth[].

Propagation

Seed -

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