Piptadeniastrum | |
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Piptadeniastrum africanum in the Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
Genus: | Piptadeniastrum Brenan (1955) |
Species: | P. africanum |
Binomial name | |
Piptadeniastrum africanum (Hook.f.) Brenan (1955) | |
Synonyms [2] | |
Piptadenia africanaHook.f. (1849) |
Piptadeniastrum africanum is a tall deciduous tree within the legume family, Fabaceae. It is native to the humid tropics of sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from Senegal to Sudan and Angola. [2] It is the sole species in genus Piptadeniastrum. It is also called Piptadenia africana, and its timber is traded under the names Dabema or Dahoma. [3] It commonly occurs in freshwater swamp forests but can also be found further north.
Piptadeniastrum africanum is a medium-sized to large tree capable of growing to 50 meters tall, with the record being 199'1" (60.68 meters) and a maximum girth a breast height of 14' 9" (4.5 meters) [4] in Ghana. It has wide spreading branches. Its trunk is straight and cylindrical [5] while the base of the tree has thin buttress roots that can reach a height of 5 meters or more and extends along the ground, its bark is grey to brown in color but reddish at the base. [6] Leaves are alternate, bipinnately compound in arrangement with about 10 - 20 pairs of pinnae and about 30 - 58 leaflets per each pinnae. [3] Leaflets, sessile and small, 0.3 x 1 cm long and 0.8 x 1.25 mm wide, glossy green above and paler beneath. Flower is yellowish to white colored and fruit is a brown woody pod, . [6]
Naturally occurs in the humid Guineo-Congolian forest of West and Central Africa from Senegal to Sudan and moving southwards towards northern Angola. It is locally known as Dabema in Ivory Coast and as Dahoma in Ghana. [7]
Methanol and aqueous extracts from the stem bark tested for the presence of flavonoids, phenols, tannins and saponins. [8] Profiles of its compounds include a variety of dihydroxy-trimethoxy(iso)flavone isomers, apigenin, chrysoeriol, eriodictyol, luteolin, and liquiritigenin. [8]
The chemical compounds of Piptadeniastrum africanum has generated interest among researchers largely because of a wide variety of afflictions plant extracts are used to treat in traditional medicine. [9] Extracts of the species in used to treat gastric ulcers, the Baka people of Cameroon use macerated stem bark extracts in preparations to treat abdominal pains. [9] While some healers use leave extracts as a tonic or as an aphrodisiac. [9] In Congo and Ghana, it is applied in native medicine as a treatment for back pains and sexual asthenia. [9]
Its timber is valued for use in building canoes and in marine and bridge construction. [3]
Ricinodendron is a plant genus in the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1864. It includes only one known species, Ricinodendron heudelotii, native to tropical Africa from Senegal + Liberia east to Sudan and Tanzania and south to Mozambique and Angola. It produces an economically important oilseed. The tree is known as munguella (Angola), njangsa (Cameroon), bofeko, wama (Ghana), okhuen (Nigeria), kishongo (Uganda), akpi, djansang, essang, ezezang and njasang. Two varieties of the tree species are recognized R. heudelotii var. heudelotii in Ghana and R. heudelotii var. africanum in Nigeria and westwards.
Albizia ferruginea is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda. It is threatened by deforestation
Burkea africana, the wild syringa, is a deciduous, medium-sized, spreading, flat-topped tree which grows in the woodlands and savannas of sub-Saharan Africa. It is the sole species in genus Burkea, which belongs to the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the family Fabaceae.
Tetrapleura tetraptera is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae native to Western Africa and Central Africa. The plant is called prekese in the Twi language of Ghana. It is also called uhio (uhiokrihio) in the Igbo language of Nigeria.
Commiphora africana, commonly called African myrrh, is a small deciduous tree belonging to the Burseraceae, a family akin to the Anacardiaceae, occurring widely over sub-Saharan Africa in Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Eswatini, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. On sandy soils this species sometimes forms pure stands, deserving consideration as a plant community or association.
Senegalia dudgeonii is a small perennial tree that grows up to 9 meters tall. It belongs to the Fabaceae family and endemic Sudano-Sahelian and Guinea savannah zones of West Africa.
Zanthoxylum leprieurii is a low branching medium-sized tree of the Rutaceae family. It can reach 24 m (79 ft) in height and up to 40 cm (16 in) in diameter. Some parts of the plant are used in African folk medicine.
Aganope stuhlmannii is a deciduous tree within the family Fabaceae. It is native to tropical Africa and grows in savanna woodlands.
Osodendron altissimum, formerly known as Albizia altissima, is a low branching tree within the Fabaceae family, it grows along river banks in the Lower and Upper Guinean and Congolian forests of west and central Africa.
Landolphia dulcis is a climbing shrub or liana within the Apocynaceae family.
Lannea acida is a shrub or small deciduous tree within the family Anacardiaceae. It is endemic to the Guinea and Sudan savannas of West and Central Africa.
Lannea microcarpa is a dioecious plant within the Anacardiaceae family. It is also called African grapes and occurs in the Sudan and Guinea savanna of West Africa from Senegal to Cameroon. The plant is used to dye basilan fini, a traditional cloth in a red and brown colour.
Lannea schweinfurthii is a small to medium sized deciduous tree within the Anacardiaceae family. The tree is sometimes called 'bastard marula' or 'false marula' because when it is without flowers or fruits, it become quite similar to the marula tree and sometimes it's confused for the marula tree. Extracts of the species is used in traditional human and veterinary medical practices.
Lannea edulis is a small deciduous shrub that commonly occurs in East and Southern Africa, it belongs to the Anacardiaceae family.
Anthonotha macrophylla is a shrub to small understory tree within the family Fabaceae. It is endemic to the rain forest regions of West Africa and it is the most common of species within the Anthonotha genus in Africa.
Pentaclethra macrophylla, also known as the African oil bean, tree is a large size tree with long bipinnate compound leaves that is endemic to West and Central Africa. It is within the family Fabaceae. Seeds of the species are prepared and fermented to make Ugba, a soup condiment in Nigeria.
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.
Sterculia setigera is a deciduous tree species within the Malvaceae family. It commonly occurs in the Sahelo-Sudan and Guinea savannah zones of Tropical Africa. Among the Hausa people it is known as Kukkuki. It is an important tree crop in Senegal as Gum karaya obtained from the woody species is exported from the country.
Albizia chevalieri is a shrub or small tree within the family Fabaceae. It is native to West Africa and parts of Central Africa and is found in the drier parts of the savanna.
Albizia glaberrima is a deciduous tree found in Tropical Africa, it belongs to the family Fabaceae. It is traded under the name 'white nongo' and it is well distributed in West, Central, East and parts of Southern Africa.