This name is not universally accepted. We have followed the treatment in African Plant Database[] and others, but some botanists are rejecting the Genus name Elaeodendron and are merging it with Cassine[]. In that case, this species will be Cassine buchananii Loes.[].

Common Name:

General Information

Elaeodendron buchananii is an evergreen shrub or tree with a much-branched, rounded crown; it can grow from 1 - 30 metres tall. The bole is often irregular, it can be up to 60cm in diameter[, , ].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and source of wood.

Known Hazards

The plant is known to be extremely poisonous. If children have been eating the fruits or the leaves and then take a drink of milk, they will die[].
Sheep are fatally poisoned by browsing on the plant[].
Feeding on the leaves may cause death in livestock after dyspnoea, loss of coordination and diarrhoea[].

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Sierra Leone, Togo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sudan, Ethiopia, eastern DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, to Angola, Zambia, Malawi.

Habitat

Dry, evergreen forest and thickets; riverine forest; deciduous woodland (on termite mounds); grasslands; sometimes in secondary communities; deciduous forest edges; Podocarpus latifolius forest; at elevations from around 1,000 to 2,290 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	15.00 m
Growth Rate	Slow
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A slow-growing tree[].
The tree can be pollarded[].
The flowers are sweetly scented[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

Although poisonous, the plant is sometimes used in traditional medicine.
A methanol extract of the bark showed cytotoxic activity against L-1210 leukaemic cells, with elabunin, a dammarane-type triterpene, as active principle[].
A steroidal glycoside, buchaninoside, was isolated from the fruits; it exhibited antifeedant activity against African armyworm (Spodoptera exempta) larvae[].
Mutangin, a sesquiterpene of the eudesmane type, was isolated from unripe fruits and exhibited moderate antifeedant activity against larvae of the stem borer Chilo partellus[].

Leaf extracts are taken as abortifacient, oxytocic, tonic and vermifuge, and to treat fever[]. Leaves are chewed is a treatment for diarrhoea[].

Root decoctions are drunk to treat digestive upsets, coughing with blood, excessive uterine bleeding and infertility[]. The root powder is taken to treat syphilis[].
The root powder is applied topically on wounds[].

Other Uses

The tree yields a gum, but no uses are recorded for it[].
A close relative of this species, Elaeodendron roxburgii Wight & Arn., is the source of a high quality gum in India[].

The heartwood is pale brown to reddish brown; it is distinctly demarcated from the whitish sapwood. The grain is straight or interlocked; texture moderately fine. The wood is heavy, hard, tough and moderately durable. It is fairly easy to saw; planes well; can be polished to a nice surface; turns well. The heartwood is difficult to impregnate with preservatives, the sapwood moderately difficult[, ]. It is used for joinery and furniture, and is suitable for heavy construction, heavy flooring, interior trim, ship building, vehicle bodies, mine props, handles, ladders, sporting goods, toys, novelties, turnery, pattern making, veneer and plywood[].
The wood is used for fuel and for making charcoal[].

Propagation

Seed -

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