Common Name:

General Information

Spirospermum penduliflorum is a climbing shrub or a small, arching tree; it usually grows up to 10 metres tall, occasionally to 12 metres. The stem can be 15cm in diameter[].
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local medicinal use.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Africa - eastern Madagascar.

Habitat

Humid forests at elevations up to 500 metres, occasionally ascending to 1,100 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Habit	Climber
Height	7.50 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

A leaf decoction is widely drunk to treat malaria, sometimes as an adjuvant to chloroquine[]. An infusion of the leaves is taken as a treatment for colic[] The dried and compressed leaves are smoked to stop the progress of pulmonary tuberculosis and the vomiting of blood[]..

A root decoction is taken as a cholagogue, as a cardiac tonic and against liver complaints[].

From the root the clerodane type diterpenoid columbin, the protoberberine-type quaternary alkaloid palmatine and the bisbenzylisoquinoline limacine have been isolated.
Limacine was tested for its effect against Plasmodium falciparum and a multidrug resistant leukaemia cell line; it was found to be less active than the structurally related fangchinoline[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -

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