This species is treated by many botanists as Elaeophorbia drupifera, but we are using the old name of Euphorbia in line with the World checklist of Plants produced by Kew Botanic Gardens[].
Closely related to Euphorbia grandifolia - the two are perhaps part of a single, variable species[].

Common Name:

General Information

Euphorbia drupifera is a small to medium-sized, evergreen tree with abundant latex, growing up to 22 metres tall[]. The bole is stout and up to 60 cm in diameter, often low-branching, the branches spreading to form a large rounded crown[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local medicinal use, and it is also cultivated as a hedge-plant and live fence[]. The trees are often planted near houses and on graves to protect against bad spirits and lightning[].

Known Hazards

The latex or crushed leaves are widely used as a fish poison or as an ingredient of arrow poison[].
The fruit is also used as fish poison[].
The latex is used as ordeal poison.[].
In almost all cases, the latex found in Euphorbia species is toxic on ingestion and highly irritant externally, causing photosensitive skin reactions and severe inflammation, especially when it comes into contact with eyes or open cuts[].

Botanical References

Range

Western tropical Africa - Guinea to southern Nigeria and Uganda, south to northern Angola.

Habitat

Forest edges, flooded coastal plains and occasionally rainforest, on brown-black humid soil, often near termitaria, at elevations of 700 - 1,000 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	15.00 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of drier areas in the tropics, where it can be found at elevations from 700 - 1,000 metres. The plant is intolerant of frost[].
Succeeds in full sun to light shade[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The latex is normally used externally because of its toxic effect, however, in some areas it is dissolved in water then drunk, or it is eaten in manioc porridge, or on a piece of sugar cane, as a purgative[].
It is commonly applied externally to ringworm, snakebites, insect stings and scorpion stings to relieve the pain[]. It is applied to warts because of its caustic effects[]. It is also applied to the gums to treat toothache[].

A leaf decoction is taken as a purgative, or applied as an enema for the same purpose. It is drunk to treat cough and whooping cough[].
The ground-up leaves, combined with salt and chopped onions, are applied to Guinea worm sores, to extract the worms[]. The leaves are also used to wash leprous sores[].

A bark decoction is used as a mouth wash to treat toothache[].

The root bark sap is rubbed in and scrapings are used as a dressing to treat craw-craw wounds[].

The stem latex contains 0.3 - 0.5% of the diterpene alcohol ingenol and several ingenol diterpene esters. Ingenol is also present in other Euphorbia spp[]. The esters are toxic and co-carcinogens[].
The triterpenes euphol, tirucallol and euphorbol were also isolated as major components of the latex[]. The latex contains the lectins euphorbain d1 and euphorbain d2, which agglutinate erythrocytes in vitro[].
Extracts of the latex were found to inhibit replication and cytopathicity of several HIV-1 and HIV-2 strains, even after delayed treatment[]. The latex was also selectively toxic to Molt-4/HIV cells and inhibited HIV-1 reverse transcriptase[].
A crude leaf extract evoked significant dose-dependent contractions in the muscles of the ileum and uterus[]. It also significantly reduced blood glucose levels[].
A crude root extract decreased both the blood pressure and heart rate in a dose-dependent manner[]. Also, the extract was found to prolong acetylcholine-induced hypotension[]. In-vitro studies using isolated arterial strips revealed that the extract had a dose-dependent relaxant effect on vascular smooth muscle tissue[].

Agroforestry Uses:

Planted as a hedge or live fence around home gardens[, ].

Other Uses

Mixed with oil, the latex is applied to the eyeball, which affects the optic nerve and causes strange visual effects and confusion[]. It can also lead to severe eye damage[].

Propagation

Seed -
Stem cuttings.

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