Common Name: Azier

General Information

Psychotria psychotrioides is a shrub growing up to 6 metres tall, with rounded, glabrous branches[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for use as a dye and medicinal plant[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Senegal to Sudan, south to Gabon and Zaire.

Habitat

Closed and fringing forest and in savannah woodland, from sea-level up to elevations of 1,200 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Shrub
Height	5.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

Early symptoms of eye troubles are treated with a decoction of the bark in a steam bath, whereby a sheet covers the head of the patient and the container with the steaming liquid[].

A leaf maceration is rubbed on the forehead, or the sap is drunk, in order to combat headache and depressions[].

The root, or the whole plant, yields a widely used expectorant medicine for asthma and bronchitis[].

Other Uses

The bark yields a red dye which is used to dye textiles[, ]. The dye potential is optimized by the mordanting effect of the high concentration aluminium present in the leaves[].
Aluminium accumulation in leaves seems to be a chemotaxonomic characteristic of the genus Psychotria[]. Aluminium salts are the main mordants used to strengthen and multiply the chemical bonds between textile fibres and most natural dyes[].

Propagation

Seed -

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