Common Name:

General Information

Croton mubango is a very elegant shrub or tree with a dense, spreading crown, that can grow up to 17 metres tall. The bole can be up to 30cm in diameter[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine. Croton mubango is frequently planted as a shade tree in villages[, ].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

West tropical Africa - ?Cote D'Ivoire, Gabon, DR Congo, Angola.

Habitat

Margins of dense forest, secondary forest and tree savannah[]. Savannahs; disturbed forests; rather dry sandy hilly places; outskirts of forests[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	12.00 m
Pollinators	Bees
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Most Croton species are relatively indifferent to their habitat and can grow on a wide range of soils in both disturbed and undisturbed vegetation[]. Established plants are very drought tolerant[].

Edible Uses

The bark of young twigs is used as a condiment[].

Medicinal

A decoction of the bark is taken to treat gastritis and painful periods. Combined with the seeds of Monodora myristica, the bark is eaten to treat abdominal pain and expel intestinal worms[]. The powdered bark in palm wine is taken to treat oedema[].
The bark pulp is rubbed onto the gums and teeth to treat toothache, and is also applied to haemorrhoids, hernias, skin eruptions and painful joints[]. The body is rubbed with a bark maceration as a tonic[].

Young fruits soaked in palm wine are taken as a laxative[].

A decoction of the root, combined with the roots of Mundondo (Chlorocodon spp.) and Tylopliora conspicua, is used as a drastic purgative[]. The powdered root, or a root maceration, is taken to treat diarrhoea and dysentery[].

The leaves are eaten to ease pain[].
A leaf infusion is used as a body wash to treat fever[].

A stem bark decoction is taken to treat abdominal pain, fevers, enlarged spleen and tuberculosis[]. When mixed with the leaves or stems of Mobiro (Adoiia lobata), it is an excellent anthelmintic remedy[].

Preliminary screening showed the presence of flavonoids, sterols, triterpenes, saponins and reducing sugars[].
Stem bark extracts showed weak antibacterial and anti-amoebic activities in vitro[].
Methanolic, dichloromethane and aqueous stem bark extracts showed antiplasmodial activity against Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. At a daily oral dose of 200 mg/kg, the dichloromethane extract, the petroleum-ether, chloroform, ethyl-acetate and residual water-soluble fractions showed antiplasmodial activity against Plasmodium berghei[].
In-vitro antibacterial screening of the stem bark extract showed no activity against enteropathogens[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The scented flowers are very attractive to bees[].

Other Uses

The white wood is hard and firm, but cracks easily[, ]. No uses are recorded for it.

Propagation

Seed -

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