This species was formerly included in Penianthus zenkeri, but their areas of distribution and morphology are clearly separate; the former occurs in West Africa, the latter in eastern Nigeria and Central Africa[].

Common Name:

General Information

Penianthus patulinervis is an evergreen, single-stemmed shrub usually growing up to 1 metre tall, occasionally to 2 metres[].
The plant is a popular traditional medicine in Africa, where it is commonly harvested from the wild and also sold in local markets. It is occasionally cultivated in Cote D'Ivoire[, ].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Africa - Sierra Leone to Ghana.

Habitat

Dense rainforest; also in secondary forest; often on sandy soil and humid (even marshy) places; from sea-level up to 200 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Shrub
Height	1.00 m
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The root, bark and twigs are used to prepare aphrodisiac potions - the roots and twigs are also chewed or sucked for this purpose[].
The root bark, applied as an enema, is also used as a sexual stimulant[].
A decoction of the roots and twigs is used to treat infections and venereal diseases[].
The twigs are chewed to treat cough[].
A dressing prepared from the bark or root shavings is applied to heal wounds, abscesses and boils[].

The leaf pulp is applied to the nails to treat whitlow[].

The stems and roots contain several alkaloids including berberine, dehydrodiscretine, jatrorrhizine, palmatine, pseudopalmatine and magnoflorine - several of these have shown pharmacological properties[]. Other alkaloids identified include menispermine and feruloyltyramine[].
Jatrorrhizine has antiplasmodial activity[].
The plant is also rich in terpenoids[].

Other Uses

The roots and stems are used as chewsticks to maintain the health of teeth and gums[].

Propagation

Seed - it has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing in order to speed up and improve germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing[, ].

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