Commiphora rostrata
Engl.
Wikimedia Commons - Ton Rulkens from Mozambique
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves, Bark - tea, Stems - tea, Vegetable
The leaves are eaten raw or cooked with other foods for flavoring; they have a bitter taste. The bark and branches are made into tea, and the bark of young plants is chewed.
Known Hazards
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. In East Africa it grows in dry open woodland from 80-1,050 m altitude. In Kenya it grows in regions with a rainfall between 200-600 mm per year. It can grow in arid places.
Africa, East Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia,
How to Identify
A shrub. It grows 3.5 m high. It has a strong smell. A clear sap comes from the stems. The side shoots have a strong spine. The bark is smooth and dark red. The leaves are simple, entire and opposite. They are 1-4 cm long by 1-3 cm wide. Plants are separately male and female. The male flowers are in groups or 8-20 and the female flowers in groups or 1-2. The flowers are dark red. The fruit is narrow and oval and 1.5-2 cm long.
How to Grow
Plants can be grown from stem cuttings.
Propagation: Seed - Stem cuttings.
Medicinal Uses
The leaves and young twigs are chewed to ease cough and chest problems. Bark or branches are chewed or taken as an infusion to relieve fever, colds and coughs. Juice from the bark is applied to the eyes to cure eye diseases. The exudate from the bark is copious, very fluid and highly aromatic. It showed antimicrobial activity (against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and antifungal activity (against Aspergillus and Penicillium). The major components of the volatile fraction of the resin are 2-decanone (65%), 2-undecanone (24%) and 2-dodecanone (5%). The whole resin, as well as the 3 pure constituents, inhibited growth of fungi in vitro and showed a repellent effect on maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais).
Other Uses
The twigs are used as toothbrushes to clean the teeth and maintain dental hygiene. The resin from the bark is used to glue feathers to arrow shafts. The powdered bark is added to water in new calabashes made from bottle gourds (Lagenaria spp.) and the left for 3 days to give them a pleasant smell. The wood can support breeding populations of the larger grain borer (Prostephanus truncatus) and should therefore not be used in the construction of grain stores.
Names & Synonyms
Choneh, Cillau, Criau, Dainjo, Danu-sagar, Danu, Dhusundus, Dirraa, Galdayan, Imaim, Inywamanzi, Janau, Jano, Jenau, Jenaw, Jino, Lokimeta, Tirai, Udesi
References (12)
- Bosch, C.H., 2004. Commiphora rostrata Engl. [Internet] Record from Protabase. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa), Wageningen, Netherlands. < http://database.prota.org/search.htm>. Accessed 15 October 2009.
- Dale, I. R. and Greenway, P. J., 1961, Kenya Trees and Shrubs. Nairobi. p 91
- Ethiopia: Famine Food Field Guide. http://www.africa.upenn.edu/faminefood/category1.htm
- Grubben, G. J. H. and Denton, O. A. (eds), 2004, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. p 214
- Lulekal, E., et al, 2011, Wild edible plants in Ethiopia: a review on their potential to combat food insecurity. Afrika Focus - Vol. 24, No 2. pp 71-121
- Maundu, P. et al, 1999, Traditional Food Plants of Kenya. National Museum of Kenya. 288p
- Morgan, W. T. W., 1981, Ethnobotany of the Turkana: Use of plants by a Pastoral People and Their Livestock in Kenya. Economic Botany 35(1):96-130
- Mutie, F. G., 2020, Conservation of Wild Food Plants and Their Potential for Combatting Food Insecurity in Kenya as Exemplified by the Drylands of Kitui County. Plants 2020, 9, 1017
- Mutie, F. M., et al, 2023, Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches. Plants 2023, 12, 1145
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 73
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 5th April 2011]
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
