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Useful Tropical Plants

Quassia africana

(Baill.) Baill.

Simaroubaceae

+ Synonyms

Simaba africana Baill.

Common Name:

Quassia africana
Close-up of the inflorescence
Photograph by: Ehoarn Bidault
Creative Commons License
Quassia africana Quassia africana

General Information

Quassia africana is a shrub or undershrub growing 1.2 - 4 metres tall[
328
Title
African Flowering Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php
Publisher
Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques.
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
].
The plant is gathered from the wild for local medicinal use.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References


Range

West tropical Africa - Cameroon to eastern Zaire, south to northern Angola.

Habitat

In the understorey of rainforests and shady, humid woods at elevations of 5 - 500 metres[
328
Title
African Flowering Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php
Publisher
Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques.
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
].

Properties

Medicinal Rating *  *
HabitShrub
Height3.00 m
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the lowland, humid tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 500 metres[
328
Title
African Flowering Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php
Publisher
Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques.
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The leaves and the bark of the root are very bitter[
46
Title
Dictionary of Economic Plants.
Publication
 
Author
Uphof. J. C. Th.
Publisher
Weinheim
Year
1959
ISBN
-
Description
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
]. They are used as a tonic, as an appetizer and also as a vermifuge[
46
Title
Dictionary of Economic Plants.
Publication
 
Author
Uphof. J. C. Th.
Publisher
Weinheim
Year
1959
ISBN
-
Description
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
].
Chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts of the plant have shown pronounced antiviral activity against Herpes simplex, Semliki forest, Coxsackie and Vesicular stomatitis viruses. This activity was produced, at least in part, by the quassinoid simakikalactone D[
496
Title
Antiviral activity of simalikalactone D, a quassinoid from Quassia africana.
Publication
 
Author
Apers S.; Cimanga K. Et al
Website
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11842321
Publisher
Planta Med.
Year
2002
ISBN
 
Description
A research paper into the antiviral activity of quassinoids present in Quassia africana. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-03-28. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Quassia+africana>

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