Common Name:

General Information

Motandra guineensis is a vigorous climbing shrub producing stems up to 40 metres long and 10cm in diameter[]. The stems scramble over the ground, climbing high into the surrounding vegetation.
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Sierra Leone and Mali to Sudan and Uganda, south to Angola and DR Congo.

Habitat

Open or secondary deciduous forest, gallery forest and in secondary regrowth. It grows on sand, clay and rocky outcrops, at elevations from sea-level up to 1,200 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Climber
Height	30.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The leaf sap is applied to the eyes to treat eye infections, as a mouthwash or massage to the gums to treat toothache or instilled in the nose in case of fainting, headache or to calm insanity. The initial response is irritation of the mucous membranes, followed by sedation[, ].

The bark sap is used as an enema to calm stomach-ache in women that have just given birth[, ].

An ethanol extract of Motandra guineensis leaves was tested in vitro for antibacterial and antifungal activities, but did not show a significant effect[].

Other Uses

The hollow stem is cut into short lengths, which are threaded as beads[, ].

A latex is obtained from the plant, but it is of no value[].

Propagation

Seed -

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