Common Name:

General Information

Vitex micrantha is an evergreen tree growing up to 27 metres tall[]. The bole is often sinuous and slightly fluted at the base, it can be up to 60cm in diameter[].
The tree is harvested from the wild for its edible fruit, medicinal uses and useful timber, all of which are used locally.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical west Africa - Sierra Leone to Cameroon.

Habitat

Often an understorey tree of lowland evergreen forest. In Ghana it is strongly associated with base-poor soils[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	20.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

Fruits raw or cooked[]. Fleshy[]. They can be used to make an alcoholic drink[]. The purplish-black fruit is an ellipsoid drupe about 15mm long[].

Medicinal

The leaves are applied externally to treat onchocerciasis (craw-craw)[].

Various parts of the plant are probably used in similar ways to those of Vitex doniana[]. These uses are:-

The fruit is used to improve fertility and to treat anaemia, jaundice, leprosy and dysentery[]. Both the dried and the fresh fruits are eaten as a treatment against diarrhoea[]

The root is anodyne[]. A decoction is used to treat gonorrhoea, ankylostomiasis, rickets, gastro-intestinal disorders and jaundice[, ]. A decoction of the root is drunk by women to treat backaches[].

The leaves are anodyne, febrifuge, galactagogue and tonic[]. A decoction is taken internally as a tonic and to treat fevers and respiratory diseases[]. It is applied externally to increase milk flow and as a treatment for headache, stiffness, measles, rash, fever, chickenpox and hemiplegia[].
The young tender leaves are pounded and the juice squeezed into the eyes to treat conjunctivitis and other eye troubles[, ].
A paste made from the pounded leaves and bark is applied to wounds and burns[].

The powdered bark is added to water and then taken to treat colic[]. A bark extract is used to treat stomach complaints, kidney troubles, leprosy, liver diseases, and to control bleeding after childbirth[].

Other Uses

The heartwood is creamy white to pale yellowish brown, darkening on exposure, and indistinctly demarcated from the sapwood. The grain is straight to wavy; texture moderately fine and even, the wood fairly lustrous. The wood is not durable and is liable to termite, powder post beetle and marine borer attacks[]. It is easy to saw and work with hand and machine tools; it planes to a smooth surface and finishes well; it glues satisfactorily. Veneer of good quality can be produced, but the shape of the bole is often too poor for rotary cutting. The wood is used on a local scale for light construction, drums and writing boards. It is suitable for light flooring, joinery, interior trim, shipbuilding, furniture, cabinet work, toys, novelties, boxes, crates, veneer, plywood, hardboard, particle board and pulpwood[].

Propagation

Seed - germination rates are often low, with the seed starting to sprout 5 months or more after sowing[].

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