| Cussonia arborea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Cussonia arborea tree | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Apiales |
| Family: | Araliaceae |
| Genus: | Cussonia |
| Species: | C. arborea |
| Binomial name | |
| Cussonia arborea Hochst. ex A.Rich. | |
Cussonia arborea is a deciduous small to medium sized tree within the family Araliaceae. Extracts of the species are widely used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments. [1]
A multi-branched tree, the species can reach an height of 15 m, while its trunk can reach 45 cm in diameter. [1] The bark is thick, corky and deeply furrowed, grey to dark grey in color. The leaves are palmately compound, with 3-9 leaflets or it can be simple, leaves are deeply lobed when mature and tend to have a leathery glabrous to glabrescent upper surface, its young leaves tend to be tomentose; leaflets are 6-30 cm long and 2-18 cm wide. Leaflets are obovate to elliptical in outline, the margin is commonly entire to crenate and the apex tend to be acute or acuminate while the base tend to be cuneate. Flowers are in umbels of spikes that points to different directions, up to 15 spikes per umbel, the fruit is globose or ovoid in shape, dark purple and up to 5 mm long.
The species is widely distributed in West, Central and East Africa. [1] From Guinea and Senegal in West Africa westwards to Eritrea and Ethiopia in the horn of Africa and southwards to Zimbabwe. It occurs in open forests, woodlands and savannahs. [1]
Rutin and quinic acid esters have been isolated from the methanol extracts of the species. [2] Triterpene saponins, including Cussonosides A and B have been isolated from the species.
Bark decoction is used to treat malaria in Nigeria. [3] In Ghana, Malawi and Zimbabwe, extracts are used to treat mental health related issues. [1] Its leaves are used in a decoction to treat rheumatism and oedema. [1] A water decoction of bark extracts is used as a topical treatment of gonorrhea and a root decoction is drunk for the treatment of diarrhea.
Saponins, also selectively referred to as triterpene glycosides, are bitter-tasting usually toxic plant-derived organic chemicals that have a foamy quality when agitated in water. They are widely distributed but found particularly in soapwort, a flowering plant, the soapbark tree and soybeans. They are used in soaps, medicines, fire extinguishers, speciously as dietary supplements, for synthesis of steroids, and in carbonated beverages. Saponins are both water and fat soluble, which gives them their useful soap properties. Some examples of these chemicals are glycyrrhizin and quillaia, a bark extract used in beverages.
Angelica pubescens is a plant in the family Apiaceae, native to Japan and China. The Japanese common name is shishiudo and the Chinese common name is 猪独活, du huo.
Mimosa tenuiflora, syn. Mimosa hostilis, also known as jurema preta, calumbi (Brazil), tepezcohuite (México), carbonal, cabrera, jurema, black jurema, and binho de jurema, is a perennial tree or shrub native to the northeastern region of Brazil and found as far north as southern Mexico, and the following countries: El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela. It is most often found in lower altitudes, but it can be found as high as 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
Cussonia spicata, known as spiked cabbage tree, lowveld cabbage tree or common cabbage tree, is a tree in the family Araliaceae, which is native to the moister regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is cultivated as a garden plant in areas without extreme degrees of frost. It is one of the favorite foods of wild elephants.
Triterpenes are a class of terpenes composed of six isoprene units with the molecular formula C30H48; they may also be thought of as consisting of three terpene units. Animals, plants and fungi all produce triterpenes, including squalene, the precursor to all steroids.
Cussonia is a genus of plants of the family Araliaceae, which is native to the Afrotropics. It originated in Africa and has its center of distribution in South Africa and the Mascarene Islands. Due to their striking habit, they are a conspicuous and easily recognizable group of plants. Their genus name commemorates the botanist Pierre Cusson. The Afro-Malagasy and Asian Schefflera, and Afrotropical Seemannaralia genera are related taxa that share several of its morphological characteristics, among which the leaves borne on the end of branches, inflorescences carried on terminal branches or stems, and reduced leaf complexity in developing inflorescences.
Mitraphylline, an oxindole derivative, is an active alkaloid in the leaves of the tree Mitragyna speciosa, commonly known as kratom. As a non-narcotic constituent, it also occurs to a significant amount in the bark of Uncaria tomentosa along with a number of isomeric alkaloids.
Panax notoginseng is a species of the genus Panax, and it is commonly referred to in English as Chinese ginseng or notoginseng. In Chinese it is called tiánqī, tienchi ginseng, sānqī or sanchi, three-seven root, and mountain plant. P. notoginseng belongs to the same scientific genus as Panax ginseng. In Latin, the word panax means "cure-all", and the family of ginseng plants is one of the best-known herbs.
Maslinic acid is a compound derived from dry olive-pomace oil which is a byproduct of olive oil extraction. It is a member of the group of triterpenes known as oleananes.
Oleanolic acid or oleanic acid is a naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpenoid related to betulinic acid. It is widely distributed in food and plants where it exists as a free acid or as an aglycone of triterpenoid saponins.
Polyscias fruticosa, or Ming aralia, is a perennial plant, dicot evergreen shrub or dwarf tree native to India. The plant grows fairly slowly but can reach up to 1 to 2 meters in height. The leaves are of a dark green pigment, glossy in texture, and are tripinnate and appear divided. Individual leaves vary from narrowly ovate to lanceolate and are about 10 cm long.
Pycnanthus angolensis is a species of tree in the nutmeg family, Myristicaceae. It is native to Tropical Africa. Its English language common names include African nutmeg, false nutmeg, boxboard, and cardboard. In Africa it is widely known as ilomba.
Methyl gallate is a phenolic compound. It is the methyl ester of gallic acid.
Neocussonia umbellifera is an evergreen to semi-deciduous Southern African tree of 15-20m growing in escarpment and coastal forest in Malawi, through eastern Zimbabwe and Mozambique along the east coast to South Africa, as far south as the Garden Route. It belongs to the Araliaceae or Cabbage Tree family, and was formerly placed in the genus Schefflera, created by J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. in 1776 to honour the 18th century German physician and botanist Johann Peter Ernst von Scheffler of Danzig, and not to be confused with writer and physician Jacob Christoph Scheffler (1698-1745) of Altdorf bei Nürnberg.
Caffeoylmalic acid is an ester of caffeic acid and malic acid found in the leaves and flowers of Parietaria officinalis. It is also found in Chelidonium majus and Urtica dioica.
Stereospermum kunthianum is an African deciduous shrub or small tree occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. It is widespread across Africa to the Red Sea, and reaches as far south as Angola, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. There are some 30 species with a Central African and Asian distribution.
Boscia angustifolia is a shrub or small tree with lanceolate leaves commonly found in the savannah zones of Africa, from Senegal moving eastwards to Sudan. It is part of the Capparaceae family. The plant is also known as the rough-leaved shepherds tree.
Manilkara obovata is small to large sized evergreen tree within the Sapotaceae family. Its timber is sold under the name Nkunya in Uganda. The species has a wide distribution from Sierra Leone in West Africa moving east to Uganda in Eastern Africa and southwards to Zambia. It is also considered a variable species having different ecotypes.
Entandrophragma angolense, called the tiama, is a tree species with alternate, pinnately compound leaves that are clustered at the ends of branches. It is within the family Meliaceae and has a wide distribution area, occurring in moist semi-deciduous and evergreen forest regions of Tropical Africa from Sierra Leone to Uganda.
Cussonia holstii is a small to medium size tree belonging to the family Araliaceae. The tree is similar in shape to a paw paw tree.