Common Name:

General Information

Icacina trichantha is a small shrub producing climbing stems up to 2 metres long from a very large tuber[].
The plant is gathered from the wild and used locally as a source of food, medicines and fuel.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Western tropical Africa - Nigeria.

Habitat

Forest and jungle vegetation[]. The plant is also reported to have become a weed of rice-paddies[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Shrub
Height	2.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

The plant is recorded as being a weed of rice paddies[].

Edible Uses

Root - cooked[, ]. The thick yam-like root attains a large size[]. Some native people say that the root is edible alone, or can be dried and pounded to a white powder, called gbẹ-wutu, which is used in soups, or added to a food known as ìgbãlò made from the roasted seeds of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)[]. Others treat it as a famine-food eating the flour only after prolonged maceration and repeated washings[].
Though the root is thus reported edible, a strong presence of alkaloid, and also benzophenones, has been reported in Nigerian material332].

Fruit - raw[]. The fruit is a drupe about 25mm long with a soft sweet outer pulp which is eaten[]. The kernel appears to be not eaten[].

Medicinal

The plant (part not stated) is considered to be aphrodisiac, and is also used externally to heal soft tumours[].

Other Uses

The leaf is said to be used as a wrapper for castor-oil seeds, but the purpose of wrapping them is not disclosed[].

The tuber is inflammable and when burning gives out so fierce a heat as to be unapproachable[].

Propagation

Seed -

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