Tragia brevipes
Pax
(c) Mike Plagens, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Mike Plagens
(c) Mike Plagens, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves
The leaves are eaten.
Known Hazards
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows in the understorey in forests along rivers. It also grows near lakes on Kalahari and. In southern Africa is grows from 90-1,800 m altitude.
Africa, Cameroon, Central Africa, East Africa, Malawi, Somalia, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
How to Identify
A climbing herb. It has a woody rootstock and stems 3 m long. The stems can be hairy. The leaves are oval and without lobes at the base. They are narrowly and deeply heart shaped. The leaves are 2-11 cm long by 1-6 cm wide.
Medicinal Uses
A root decoction is taken as a purgative, especially for babies and small children. The roots are given to women with labour pain. A decoction of roots and leaves is drunk to promote conception. Leaves, roots and twigs are used to treat poliomyelitis. Pain caused by rheumatism is treated by rubbing the leaves on the painful joints. A leaf extract is drunk to cure gonorrhoea, to kill internal parasites including tapeworm and to treat stomach-ache, diarrhoea and gastroenteritis. The ash of burnt leaves is inhaled to cure elephantiasis A methanol extract of the fruits has antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus. Extracts of leaves, stems and roots did not show activity against a panel of bacteria and fungi. An ethanolic leaf extract showed significant activity against Entamoeba histolytica.
Names & Synonyms
Cinyanya
References (4)
- Flora Zambesiaca. http://apps.kew.org/efloras
- Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 27
- Kakeya, 1976,
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 112
