Synclisia scabrida

Miers

Menispermaceae

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Jacques Bié Mba & West & Central Africa program

What to Eat

Edible parts: Medicine

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant.

Africa, Angola, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Congo DR, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, West Africa,

Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A creeper. It can grow 40 m long. The leaves are 20 cm long and 7-8 cm wide and heart shaped at the base. The fruit are orange and 1.2-1.7 cm long by 0.8-0.9 cm wide. The seeds are 1-1.5 cm long.

How to Grow

A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Medicinal Uses

Used medicinally.

Other Uses

A root decoction is used in trial by ordeal ceremonies; when it causes constipation one is innocent, when it causes diarrhoea, one is guilty. The root bark contains a yellow dye of unrecorded use.

References (1)

World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew