Common Name: Rubber Vine

General Information

Rubber vine is a strong-growing climbing shrub, sending out perennial, woody stems than can be up to 20 metres long and 15cm in diameter[]. The stems can scramble over the ground or climb into nearby plants, reaching the tops of trees and supporting itself by means of tendrils[].
The plant is often harvested from the wild for its edible fruit, which is highly valued by local people and is commonly found for sale in local market places[, ]. It is also harvested for medicinal uses and for its latex[]. A beautiful climbing plant with fragrant flowers, it is often grown as an ornamental for shady gardens[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Senegal to Ethiopia and Somalia, south to Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Madagascar.

Habitat

Very abundant in undisturbed forests, coastal areas and around the Great lakes region of Africa[]. Very rare in open areas[]. Closed-forest, fringing forest and savannah woodland, often on stream-banks[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Climber
Height	20.00 m
Pollinators	Bees
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of low to moderate elevations in tropical areas. It is found at elevations from sea level to 1,250 metres in areas where the mean annual temperature is around 20°c and the mean annual rainfall ranges from 900 - 2,400 mm[, ].
Grows on a variety of soils, including gritty sandy clay loams and dark grey compacted loamy soils[].
The main stem can be cut right back and will still produce new shoots[].

Edible Uses

The fruit pulp is edible[]. Pleasantly acid[]. The succulent, smooth, and either sour or agreeably subacid pulp pulls away easily from the rind[]. Normally, the seeds are picked out and the remainder blended with water and sugar. The resulting beverage is consumed either fresh or fermented, and is said to be most pleasant[]. There is an export potential as the fruit does not rot easily[]. The fruit is a large, rounded berry, 25 - 60mm in diameter. It has a thick, green, lemon-like skin, becoming yellow or orange with age and containing a sweet-sour edible pulp around many seeds, each about 1cm long[].
The fruits remain on the tree once they are ripe and can be picked as required[].

Seed - raw[].

Medicinal

A decoction of the bark is used in treating rheumatism[].

A decoction of the root is used as a vermifuge and as part of a snake-bite remedy[]. The decoction is drunk as a treatment for rheumatism and infertility in women[]. Combined with other substances, it is used as a remedy for gonorrhoea[].

A decoction of the leaves is used as a laxative[]. The leaves are pounded, soaked in cold water and the infusion used to treat hypertension[].

The fruits are sucked as a treatment for oral thrush[]. Eating the fruit is said to cure pimples[].

The milky sap, combined with that of Diplorhynchus condylocarpon, is traditionally drunk as a galactagogue[]. Such a practice must surely rest on a knowledge that the local plants do not produce latex which will coagulate in the intestines and cause occlusion[].
The latex is used externally to heal sores, and is also applied to maturate abscesses[]. In some areas the latex is dripped into the eyes to improve vision[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is often found growing along the banks of rivers, where it acts to protect the banks from erosion[].
The plant is sometimes grown as a live fence[].

Other Uses

An inferior quality latex is obtained from the stems[]. The plant contains an abundant white latex which may become pinkish on exposure[]. It is sticky and, on prolonged boiling, coagulates to a product called 'paste rubber'[]. This is generally worthless as rubber, but occasionally good coagulum may be obtained. It has been used as an adulterant of the better quality rubbers[].
In contrast there is often a high presence of resin in the latex, which results in a brittle product and in N Nigeria the latex boiled with gum copal from Daniellia thurifera has been used to prepare a 'flake rubber'[].

A blue dye is made from the crushed leaves, flowers and twigs[].

The stems are used in hut building[]. They are stiff enough to make useful walking sticks[].

Propagation

Seed - pre-treatment can improve germination rates. It has been shown that passage of the seed through an animal gut greatly improves germination rates[], so other methods such as scarification or pre-soaking could also be useful[]. For easy germination, the seeds need de-pulping by hand and cleaning in water[]. Germination success rate is usually well over 90% and starts 12 days after sowing[]. Germination is uniform and hypogeal[].
The plant regenerates naturally in the wild by seed[]. For them to become established, the seedlings need fertile moist soils under partial or full shade[].
Mature fruit never falls and must be collected once yellow in colour[].
Cuttings.

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