Zanthoxylum chalybeum

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Zanthoxylum chalybeum
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Zanthoxylum
Species:
Z. chalybeum
Binomial name
Zanthoxylum chalybeum
Engl.

Zanthoxylum chalybeum is an aromatic deciduous shrub or tree within the family Rutaceae. It is also known as the lemon scented knobwood. [1]

Contents

Description

A shrub or tree that can grow up to 12 m in height with a large crown; the trunk is furrowed, has woody knobs and often with recurved prickles, while the bark is pale grey in color. [2] Leaves arepinnately comound with 3-5 pairs of leaflets, glabrous or pubescent, they can reach up to 7 cm long and 3 cm wide, and are elliptic to lanceolate in outline. Inflorescence, anxillary racemes or branched panicles, flowers are yellow-green in color. [3] Fuit is ellipsoid in shape with black seeds.

Distribution

Commonly found in East Africa from Ethiopia southwards to Mozambique. [2]

Uses

In parts of Kenya, Uganda and Somalia, a leaf decoction is used for the treatment of diarrhea, throat, stomach and chest pain. [4] [2] The leaves are also cooked and eaten as a vegetable or brewed and drunk as tea. Stem bark and root extracts are used in decoctions to treat malaria. [2]

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References

  1. Schultz, Fabien (2021). Ethnopharmacology of medicinal plants traditionally used in the Greater Mpigi region, Uganda (PhD thesis). Technischen Universität Berlin.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Mwangi, Gladys (2023). Antivenin activity of herbs commonly used in Kenya against dendroaspis polylepis (black mamba) snake bite (PhD thesis). Kenyatta University.
  3. Beentje, Henk (1994). Kenya Trees, Shrubs, and Lianas. National Museums of Kenya. p. 372. ISBN   978-9966-9861-0-8.
  4. India, Jacqueline (2015). Efficacy of some medicinal plants used in various parts of Kenya in treating selected bacterial and fungal pathogens (PhD thesis). Kenyatta University.