Common Name:

General Information

Alafia barteri is a vigorous, climbing shrub producing stems up to 35 metres long that scramble over the ground or climb up into trees in the forest. The stems can be 3cm in diameter[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a tying material and medicine.

Known Hazards

The plant is said to be poisonous, but no further information is available[].

Botanical References

Range

West tropical Africa - Sierra Leone to Cameroon, Congo and Gabon.

Habitat

Lowland forests at elevations up to 200 metres[]. Closed forest and secondary scrub[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Climber
Height	25.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The plant is used as a fever medicine[].
An infusion of the leaves is used to treat malaria[]. A decoction is taken to treat rheumatic pains[].

Ethanol and water extracts of the leaves have shown antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, Candida albicans, Microsporum audoninii, Trichoderma viride and Trichophyton mentagrophytes[]. The ethanol extracts were more effective than the water extracts[].

Other Uses

The twining stems contain a bast fibre and are used as a binding material for roofs, etc[]. The fibre of the stems is used as binding material for roofs[].

The roots are used as chew sticks[].

A latex obtained from the stems has been used to adulterate better latex[, ].

The Igbo name, ota, meaning ‘a bow’ suggests the stems may be used to make them[].

Propagation

Seed -

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