Common Name:

General Information

Lepisanthes senegalensis is an evergreen shrub or tree with a dense, spreading crown; it can grow up to 16 metres tall. The plant exceptionally adopts a more climbing habit[, ].The short bole is up to 44cm in diameter[].
The tree is harvested from the wild as a local source of food, medicines and various commodities.

Known Hazards

The seed is said to be poisonous in quantity[].
The flowers are used as a fish poison[].
The plant contains saponins and some reports suggest that the fruit is poisonous, whilst others say that they are all right to eat[]. Although poisonous, saponins are poorly absorbed by the human body and so most pass through without harm. Saponins are quite bitter and can be found in many common foods such as some beans. They can be removed by carefully leaching in running water. Thorough cooking, and perhaps changing the cooking water once, will also normally remove most of them. However, it is not advisable to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish[].

Botanical References

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Range

Widespread through tropical Africa and tropical Asia to New Guinea and northern Australia.

Habitat

Damp sites in the forest zone, and in fringing forest and riparian locations in savannah[]. Evergreen lowland and submontane forest, riverine forest, often on coral or lava rock near the sea, at elevations up to 1,800 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	12.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A large number of morphological races exist, especially in Malesia, with different sizes of fruit, the races being correlated with different habitats[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[, ]. The pulp is swallowed and the seeds discarded[]. The red, oval fruit is 12 - 18mm in diameter, containing two black seeds[]. Some caution is advised, there are reports that the fruit could be toxic[].

Medicinal

The roots are used medicinally[].

Other Uses

The leaves are used to make a shampoo[, ].

The twigs used as chew-sticks[].

The wood is medium hard, heavy and durable[, ]. It has an attractive grain[]. It is used for furniture, poles and for making small utensils[].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe[].

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