Common Name:

General Information

Plagiostyles africana is a shrub or a tree that can grow up to 25 metres tall. The straight, cylindrical bole can be branchless for up to 12 metres and up to 80cm in diameter[].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and source of wood.

Known Hazards

The pounded leaves are used as a fish poison[].

Botanical References

Range

West tropical Africa - Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, DR Congo, northern Angola.

Habitat

Rainforest, most commonly in the more open, secondary formations[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	15.00 m
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	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 bark is somewhat vesicant[]. It is used in the treatment of ringworm[]. A decoction is drunk to treat pulmonary complaints and feverish stiffness[, ].
The pulverized bark, combined with kaolin and palm oil, is rubbed onto painful areas to treat side and kidney pain, headache and rheumatism[].
A maceration of the inner bark is inserted into the ear to treat earache and deafness[].

Sap from the inner bark, or from the leaves, is drunk or applied as an enema, to act as a purgative in order to expel intestinal worms in children[, ].
Plant sap is applied as eye drops to treat filariasis and conjunctivitis[, ].
The plant is said to be capable of reducing the rate of heart-beat, and sap from the twigs is given in water as a tranquilizer when treating cases of fits of insanity; the sap is also used as a wash[].

A decoction of the wood is taken to promote milk production in nursing mothers[, ].

A decoction of the fresh leaves is drunk to treat constipation[]. A leaf maceration is drunk to treat stomach spasms and heartburn[].
The crushed, fresh leaves are applied as a poultice to burns. The pounded leaves are applied to snakebites, scabies and areas of itch[].

The stem bark of Plagiostyles africana contains phorbol esters. An aqueous stem bark extract showed antifungal activity against several human and plant pathogens. A methanol extract of the stem bark showed significant antimicrobial activity against several Gram-positive bacteria, but not against Gram-negative bacteria[].

Other Uses

The bark contains a white, or sometimes yellowish and viscid latex[]. No uses are reported.

The heartwood is greyish brown, often with attractive dark veins and lustrous; it is more or less distinctly demarcated from the very wide band of pale yellow sapwood. The grain is straight, texture fine but often uneven. The wood is heavy, moderately durable but susceptible to Lyctus attack. It should be air dried slowly and carefully to avoid excessive splitting and warping; the rates of shrinkage are high. The wood saws and works well considering its density, with both hand and machine tools; it can be planed to a smooth surface and takes a high polish; nailing and screwing properties are good. The wood is suitable for peeling and slicing. It is used to make spoons, combs and hair pins, and is suitable for flooring, poles, piles, joinery, interior trim, furniture, cabinet work, vehicle bodies, sporting goods, toys, novelties, boxes, crates, carving, turnery, veneer and plywood[].

Propagation

Seed -

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