Common Name:

General Information

Hexalobus monopetalus is a semi-deciduous shrub or small tree with horizontal branches and a rounded quite dense crown; it can grow from 2 - 10 metres tall[, ].
The plant has a range of uses: its edible fruits are commonly gathered from the wild for local use; the plant is often used medicinally; it supplies fibre and a useful timber..

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Africa - Senegal to Sudan, south to S. Africa, but absent in the moister parts of the continent.

Habitat

Savannah woodland[]. Open woodlands in dry regions as well as reasonably well-watered ones[]. Miombo woodland and Combretum-Terminalia scrub, at elevations from 900 - 1,500 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Semi-deciduous Tree
Height	7.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

In Tanzania, the plant grows in areas with a mean annual rainfall in the range 750 - 1,300 mm[].
Succeeds in various soil types, including sandy soils, sandy loams and sandy clay loams[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw or cooked[, , ]. The fruit has a juicy white pulp that is eaten fresh or in the form of jam (which is said to be delicious)[]. Fresh, they have a pleasantly acid taste[]. The small, oblong fruits are scarlet when ripe and sometimes are patterned with green-veins[]. The cluster of oval scarlet to orange fruitlets, each about 5 cm long, are borne in a single flower[].

The seeds are eaten[]. Used as a spicy condiment[].

Medicinal

Bark-preparations enter into the Senegalese pharmacopoeia for the treatment of colic, causing neither constipation nor diarrhoea[].

A root-decoction is recommended as a laxative[]. A decoction of the root, combined with the bark of Ficus glumosa, is used as a treatment against diabetes[].

A decoction of the leaves is used as a antitussive, expectorant and promoter of bronchial secretions[].

The whole plant is used as an expectorant and in treatment of colds and chest-complaints, and diarrhoea[].

Other Uses

The bark yields a fibre which is commonly used for cordage[].

The reddish wood is strong, tough and very durable332]. It is valued in many areas for poles in hut-building, and the wood for chair-legs, tool-handles, bows, spoons, gunstocks and carvings[, ].
The wood is used for fuel[].

Propagation

Seed -

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