Common Name: Sugar Plum

General Information

Sugar plum is an evergreen tree with a dense low-branching crown; it usually grows up to 30 metres tall, though specimens to 50 metres have been recorded. The bole, which can be 120cm in diameter and unbranched for up to 13 metres, is more or less fluted and, when growing in wet soils, has large stilt-roots up to at least 5 metres high[, , ].
The tree is mainly used locally, supplying people with food, medicines, wood and various other commodities. The timber has in the past been exported in a small way from Liberia as 'false mahogany', but present-day use appears to be entirely local. It has been felled in Sierra Leone for saw-milling but this too has ceased in recent years and the tree is now considered a weed-tree[].

Known Hazards

The flowers and bark are sometimes put into Nigerian arrow-poisons as ingredients that are supposed to make the flesh putrefy around the wound[].

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - through the moister regions of Central Africa from Sierra Leone to Tanzania south to Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Habitat

High forest and riverine forest[]. Wet places in rain-forest (common along river banks); sometimes in pure stands; bushland on steep slopes; mixed evergreen forest; at elevations from sea level to 1,060 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	25.00 m
Growth Rate	Medium
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the moist to wet tropics.

Seedlings are fairly fast growing, both in shade or in full sun, and even in relatively dry localities[]. They may become 4 - 5 metres tall in 6 years[].
Plants can flower and fruit all year round[].
Trees respond well to coppicing and pollarding[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[]. A sweetish pulp, it can be made into a refreshing drink[]. The flavour is said to be similar to the medlar (Mespilus germanica)[]. Fruits from trees growing in forest areas is more esteemed than those from trees in the savannah[]. The fruit is said to be rich in vitamins[]. The more or less globose fruit can be 18 - 25mm in diameter[].

Medicinal

The leaves, pulped with palm-oil, are used externally as a massage to maturate furuncles and to relieve migraine and rheumatism[] They are also used to massage children who are late in learning to walk[].

A decoction of the root-bark is taken by mouth or by enema for treating oedemas and gastro-intestinal troubles[]. Bark decoctions are also used as a treatment for female sterility, tooth-troubles, rheumatism, piles and as a strengthener to rachitic or premature babies[]. Used in enemas, it is said to be antiemetic[].
A lotion made from the root bark with salt is used in the treatment of skin-complaints, including leprosy[]. The powdered bark is used to treat nasal cancer[].

The roots are considered antiabortive, aphrodisiac, to be a good treatment for male impotence, and to be expectorant[]. A preparation is recommended for young women in labour[]. A tisane made from the roots is given as a treatment for rhino-pharyngeal and pulmonary affections; flu with headache; and to relieve fever-pains; while the affected parts are also embrocated with the lees[].
An inhalation of steam from water in which the roots are boiled is said to relieve headache[].

The unripe fruit, used while the capsule is still green and spongy, is used in cough-medicines[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The stilt-rooted habit of this riverside species has raised the suggestion that it is able to stabilise river-banks, to curb wash and to break the flood movement of water in dry-forest zone rivers[].
The tree is used to provide shade and could be planted in coffee and cocoa plantations[].

Other Uses

The leaves, which may reach 30 cm long by 15 cm wide, are used to wrap kola nuts[].

The bark has a sickly odour when fresh, and on young twigs exudes a red sticky sap which dries as a gum. This is used as a dye[]. A bark-preparation is used to dye fishing-lines[].

The wood and bark contain much tannin[].

The heart-wood is red to reddish-brown; the sapwood is whitish tinged red[]. The wood is hard, durable and moderately heavy, and when quarter-sawn is attractively figured with a silver grain. It is easy to work and is used in local carpentry, in planks, beams, furniture, etc. Traditionally, it has been used for making dugout canoes[]. The stilt-roots and branches are suitable for boat-ribs and they are also used for the feet or props of beds[].
The wood produces a good firewood and charcoal[].

Propagation

Seed - it has a short viability and should be sown when still fresh[]. The germination rate is up to 80%[].

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