Common Name:

General Information

Craterispermum laurinum is a glabrous shrub or small tree growing up to 7 metres tall[].
The plant is used locally as a dye and medicinal plant, whilst it is also occasionally cultivated as a living fence[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Western Africa - Senegal to Central African Republic, Congo and Gabon.

Habitat

Deciduous forest and along the banks of stream in savannah[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Shrub
Height	7.00 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Edible Uses

The bark is said to be sweet and edible[].

Medicinal

The plant has many traditional medicinal uses[].

A bark, leaf or root infusion or decoction is taken against cough, toothache, fever (including malaria), venereal diseases, high blood pressure and intestinal parasites[].
The powdered bark, leaves or roots are applied to wounds and sores[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is used for live fencing as it is fire resistant and easily propagates from cuttings[].
Craterispermum laurinum is a strong aluminium and a moderate silicon accumulator. Of these elements about 36 g/kg and 13 g/kg respectively were measured in the leaves. It is possible that an Al-Si complex is formed in the shoot tissues which may contribute to Al detoxification[].

Other Uses

A brownish yellow dye is prepared from the bark and leaves[]. It is used to dye cotton[]. The bark and leaves are sometimes pounded with grass and boiled in order to prepare a yellow dye[].
The plant often contains high levels of aluminium and moderate levels of silicon, especially in the leaves[]. Aluminium accumulating plants are used as mordants instead of alums in traditional dyeing techniques in different parts of the world[]. The yellow colours they often impart to textiles come from the combination of the organic mordant and dye components such as flavonoids[]. The recipe combining the bark and leaves with an unspecified grass reported for Sierra Leone most probably implies such a combination of a mordant and yellow colouring compounds[].

The stems split easily and are used in hut building to make woven networks of twigs to hold a mud cover or thatch[].

Propagation

Seed -
It propagates easily by cuttings.

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