Maerua angolensis

Last updated

Maerua angolensis
Maerua angolensis00.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Capparaceae
Genus: Maerua
Species:
M. angolensis
Binomial name
Maerua angolensis
DC.
Synonyms [1]
  • Maerua bukobensis Gilg & Gilg-Ben. (1915)
  • Maerua currorii Hook. f.
  • Maerua emarginata Schinz
  • Maerua lucida Hochst. ex A. Rich. (1847)
  • Maerua retusa Hochst. ex A. Rich. (1847)
  • Maerua senegalensis R. Br. ex A. Rich. (1830)
  • Maerua tomentosa Pax (1891)
  • Maerua floribunda Fenzl (1844) non Sim
Maerua angolensis fruit in Senegal Maerua angolensis.jpg
Maerua angolensis fruit in Senegal

Maerua angolensis is a 10m tall, occasionally deciduous tree of the Capparaceae or caper family, often growing on termitaria and in thickets fringing seasonal watercourses, up to 1800m. Though never common, it is widespread in tropical Africa and arid regions, being absent from high-rainfall regions.

Contents

Distribution

It is found in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, extending southwards into Angola, Botswana, Caprivi Strip, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. [2] [3] [4] The genus comprises some 57 species, mostly in tropical Africa, but also extending into the Middle East and tropical Asia.

Description

The tree has a rounded crown and smooth grey bark flaking to reveal yellowish-orange patches. As with most species in the family the twigs and branches display prominent lenticels. Leaves are soft and drooping, with petioles equal to the leaves in length, and visibly thicker or inspissate at their extremities. Leaves are alternate and broadly elliptic to ovate, with rounded or notched apex and a terminal bristle (mucronate). Leaf surfaces are often noticeably scratched by their rubbing against the bristles of surrounding leaves.

The species is variable as regards pubescence, ranging from entirely glabrous to pubescent on stems and leaves. The fragrant, pincushion-like flowers are without petals and are produced in abundance at the beginning of the rainy season. Filaments are numerous (c.50) and long, initially pale yellow then turning darker with age. The 4 calyx segments recurve on opening, and the base is fringed with hairs. The distinctive torulose fruit is a silique and resembles a string of beads some 150mm in length. A slender, taller version of this species growing in the Socotra archipelago, Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen has been named Maerua angolensis subsp. socotrana (Schweinf. ex Balf. f.) Kers. M. angolensis is similar to M. schinzii Pax. from Namibia, which has thicker, almost fleshy leaves and other relatively trivial differences. [5] The wood of this species is whitish-yellow, hard, dense and fine-grained, with a tendency to separate into concentric shells along the annual rings.

Uses

Despite their unpleasant, bitter taste, the leaves are used by African rural tribes during famine periods as a food supplement, and also used as a purgative. [6] Powdered leaves are used as a fish poison and to treat anorexia and asthenia, while bark extracts and pulped leaves are used to promote the healing of wounds. Decoctions of the leaves are given to children suffering amoebic dysentery or jaundice, and to treat rheumatism, stomach-ache, epilepsy and diarrhoea, while decoctions of the bark are used to treat malaria and as an aphrodisiac. Game and livestock readily browse the foliage. [7] This species, in common with other members of the family, is host to butterflies of the family Pieridae. Instar larvae may defoliate a tree completely, but leaves regrow readily. [8]

Phytochemical analysis of the bark revealed glycosides, terpenes, tannins, flavonoids, saponins, carbohydrates, proteins, alkaloids and other constituents. Further studies suggested that the bark is non-toxic in anti-inflammatory doses, supporting ethnomedical use of the plant in managing inflammation. [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Cussonia spicata</i> Species of tree

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.

<i>Commiphora</i> Genus of flowering plants

The genus of the myrrhs, Commiphora, is the most species-rich genus of flowering plants in the frankincense and myrrh family, Burseraceae. The genus contains approximately 190 species of shrubs and trees, which are distributed throughout the (sub-) tropical regions of Africa, the western Indian Ocean islands, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and South America. The genus is drought-tolerant and common throughout the xerophytic scrub, seasonally dry tropical forests, and woodlands of these regions.

<i>Pterocarpus angolensis</i> Species of legume

Pterocarpus angolensis is a species of Pterocarpus native to southern Africa, in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. It is a protected tree in South Africa. The name Kiaat, although Afrikaans, is sometimes used outside South Africa as well. In Zimbabwe, depending on what region you are in, it is known as Mukwa or Mubvamaropa.

<i>Vachellia sieberiana</i> Species of legume

Vachellia sieberiana, until recently known as Acacia sieberiana and commonly known as the paperbark thorn or paperbark acacia, is a tree native to southern Africa and introduced into Pakistan. It is used in many areas for various purposes. The tree varies from 3 to 25 m in height, with a trunk diameter of 0.6 to 1.8 m. It is not listed as being a threatened species.

<i>Maerua</i> Genus of flowering plants

Maerua is a genus of plants in the family Capparaceae, with its centre of diversity in Africa, though some species extend their range as far north as the Levant, and as far east as the Indian subcontinent and mainland Southeast Asia. Among its species:

Maerua crassifolia is a species of plant in the Capparaceae family. It is native to Africa, tropical Arabia, and Israel, but is disappearing from Egypt. Foliage from this plant is used as fodder for animals, especially camels, during the dry season in parts of Africa.

<i>Margaritaria discoidea</i> Species of tree

Margaritaria discoidea is a tree in the family Phyllanthaceae, commonly known as the pheasant-berry, egossa red pear or bushveld peacock-berry. These trees are native to the warmer, higher rainfall areas of Africa.

<i>Pycnanthus angolensis</i> Species of tree

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.

<i>Omphalocarpum elatum</i> Species of tree

Omphalocarpum elatum Miers is a tall, tropical African tree belonging to the family Sapotaceae, remarkable for the large fruits growing directly from the trunk, and in many ways resembling the Lecythidaceae genus Napoleonaea. It is found in Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana, the Central African Republic, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Angola in the south. The fruits are favoured by elephants, the only animals able to break through the hard shell. They do this by skewering the fruit with a tusk while using their trunk to brace it against the ground. Having passed through the elephant's digestive tract, seeds germinate more readily. Although not yet endangered, the tree's life cycle is tied to that of forest elephants, and may become threatened in regions where elephant populations are under pressure.

<i>Maerua cafra</i> Species of tree

Maerua cafra (DC.) Pax is a small Southern African tree belonging to Capparaceae, the caper family, occurring eastwards along the coast from Knysna, then further inland and northwards through KwaZulu-Natal and Eswatini to the Transvaal, southern Mozambique and southern Zimbabwe. The genus Maerua comprises about 60 species found in Africa and Asia.

<i>Entandrophragma caudatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Entandrophragma caudatum, or mountain mahogany, is a large Southern African tree belonging to the mahogany family and found in eastern and north eastern South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, Angola, the Caprivi Strip region of Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. Kew currently recognises 12 other species of Entandrophragma, all with a tropical and sub-tropical African distribution.

<i>Catophractes</i> Genus of flowering plants

Catophractes alexandri, the only species in the genus Catophractes, is a spiny shrub or small tree up to 3m tall, belonging to the family Bignoniaceae and occurring in the hot, low-rainfall regions of Namibia, the Northern Cape, Kalahari Desert, Botswana, western Zimbabwe and Limpopo. Preferring calcrete, limestone outcrops and soils, the species often forms pure communities, or grows in association with Colophospermum mopane, Rhigozum virgatum, Phaeoptilum spinosum and Acacia nebrownii. It is parasitised by several Tapinanthus spp.

<i>Rhaphiostylis beninensis</i> Species of shrub

Rhaphiostylis beninensis is a woody, sprawling or scrambling glabrous, evergreen shrub or liane native to Tropical Africa, belonging to the family Metteniusaceae, and one of 3 species in the genus Rhaphiostylis. It is traditionally used as an anti-inflammatory by the Bantu people of Africa.

<i>Klainedoxa gabonensis</i> Species of tree

Klainedoxa gabonensis is a large tropical African tree of the family Irvingiaceae growing to 40m in height. Its straight trunk is buttressed and up to 25m long, while its spreading evergreen crown makes it one of the largest trees of the rainforest. It is found from Senegal to Sudan, Cameroons, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Tanzania, growing as far south as Angola and Zambia.

<i>Parkia filicoidea</i> Species of legume

Parkia filicoidea, or African locust bean, is a large, spreading flat-crowned tree to 30 metres tall, the bole of which may be narrowly buttressed to a height of about 3 metres, and up to 120 cm DBH. It occurs in wet evergreen or semi-deciduous forest, sometimes on forest fringes, riverbanks and lakes, termite mounds, at elevations up to 1000 metres from Côte d’Ivoire, east to Sudan and Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi and south to Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Bark on trunk scaly or smooth, grey to yellow-brown, branchlets glabrous to puberulous.

Balanites angolensis, or Angolan green-thorn, is a species of tree from southern Africa, it is a member of the caltrop family, Zygophyllaceae.

<i>Lannea welwitschii</i> Species of tree

Lannea welwitschii is a species of tree in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to the tropical rainforests of West and Central Africa. The timber is used to make furniture and utensils and for many other purposes, the fruits can be eaten, and the bark is used to produce a dye, for making rope and in traditional medicine.

Drypetes gerrardii is a species of small tree or large shrub in the family Putranjivaceae. Common names include forest ironplum, bastard white ironwood, and forest ironwood. It is native to tropical and subtropical central and eastern Africa. It was first described in 1920 by the English botanist John Hutchinson, who named it after the English botanist William Tyrer Gerrard who collected plants and seeds in southern Africa in the 1860s.

<i>Gardenia volkensii</i> Species of plant

Gardenia volkensii, commonly known as bushveldt gardenia or Transvaal gardenia, is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae native to southern Africa.

Albizia altissima is a low branching tree within the Fabaceae family, it grows along river banks in the Lower and Upper Guinea forests..

References

  1. "CJB - African plant database - Detail". ville-ge.ch. Archived from the original on 2014-03-13.
  2. "Maerua angolensis DC. [family CAPPARACEAE] on JSTOR". plants.jstor.org. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  3. "The Indigenous Trees of Southern Africa" - F. von Breitenbach (1965)
  4. "Maerua angolensis". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  5. Unit, Morphometrics and Ident. "eFloras Results For Maerua angolensis". apps.kew.org. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  6. "Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa" - Watt & Brandwijk (1962)
  7. "category1". www.africa.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  8. "Plant Resources of Tropical Africa" - Schmelzer, G.H. & Gurib-Fakim, A (2013)
  9. Adamu, A.; Abdurahman, E.M.; Ibrahim, H.; Abubakar, M.S.; Magaji, M.G.; Yaro, A.H. (2007). "Effect of Aqueous Methanolic Stem Bark Extract of Maerua angolensis DC on Acute and Sub-Acute Inflammations" (PDF). Nigerian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 6 (2). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-14.

Citations

Prodr. 1: 254 (1824) — Sim, For. Fl. Port. E. Afr.: 10 (1909). — Gilg & Bened. in Engl., Bot. Jahrb. 53: 257 (1915). — Burtt Davy, F.P.F.T. 1: 122 (1926). — Steedman, Trees etc. S. Rhod. 9 (1933). — Arwidss. in Bot. Notis. 1935: 360 (1936). — Exell & Mendonça, C.F.A. 1: 59 (1937). — Hauman & Wilczek, F.C.B. 2: 487 (1951). — O. B. Mill. in Journ. S. Afr. Bot. 18: 16 (1952). — Milne-Redh. in Mem. N.Y.Bot. Gard. 8 3: 217 (1953). TAB. 35 fig. F. Type from Angola.