Agroforestree database This database provides detailed information on a total of 670 agroforestry tree species. It is intended to help field workers and researchers in selecting appropriate species for agroforestry systems and technologies. For each species, the database includes information on identity, ecology and distribution, propagation and management, functional uses, pests and diseases and a bibliography. This project has been funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID, the European Union and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). |
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| Abelmoschus moschatus | Medicines: In India, roots, leaves (rarely), and seeds of ambrette are considered valuable traditional medicines. The bitter, sweet, acrid, aromatic seeds are used as a tonic and are considered aphrodisiac, opthalmic, cardiotonic, digestive, stomachic, constipating, carminative, pectoral, diuretic, stimulant, antispasmodic, deodorant, and effective against intestinal complaints, stomatitis; and diseases of the heart, allays thirst and checks vomiting. According to Unani system of medicine seeds allay thirst, cure stomatitis, dyspepsia, urinary discharge, gonorrhea, leucoderma and itch. Roots and leaves are cures for gonorrhea. |
| Acacia angustissima | Medicine: Although A. angustissima is not commonly used for agroforestry in its native range, it is an important medicinal species for the Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya Indians in Mexico. They rank it the 4th most important species in the cure of bloody diarrhea and 7th in the treatment of mucoid diarrhea. It is also used as a cure for toothache, rheumatism and skin lesions, and is reported to inhibit growth in malignant tumors. Tests also show that A. angustissima possesses a mild antimicrobial effect on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. |
| Acacia catechu | Medicine: Khersal, a crystalline form of cutch sometimes found deposited in cavities of the wood is used medicinally for the treatment of coughs and sore throat. The bark is said to be effective against dysentery, diarrhoea and in healing of wounds. The seeds have been reported to have an antibacterial action. In East Africa, the powdered bark, mixed with sulphate of copper and egg yolk, is applied to cancerous growths. |
| Acacia elatior | Medicine: In Kenya a bark decoction is used to treat diarrhoea and gonorrhoea and as a remedy for coughs. |
| Acacia erioloba | Medicine: Gum from the tree is used as a cure for gonorrhea. Bark is burned, crushed and used for relieving headache. Pods are ground into a powder to treat ear infections. Roots are used as a cough remedy. |
| Acacia etbaica | Medicine: The bark is chewed as a stimulant and is also used in the treatment of gonorrhoea |
| Acacia ferruginea | Medicine: A bark decoction, in conjunction with ginger is frequently used as an astringent for the teeth. |
| Acacia glauca | Medicine: An infusion of the roots or leaves in vinegar and of the bark in water is used as a gargle to relieve sore throat and alleviate oral inflammations in the Caribbean. A decoction of peeled branches with vinegar is taken as a cough remedy. |
| Acacia karroo | Medicine: In Zimbabwe, a root infusion is taken for pain in the alimentary canal, rheumatism, convulsions, gonorrhea and as an aphrodisiac. Root powder is applied to penile sores for syphilis. A bark decoction is an emetic for diarrhoea in humans and ‘tulp’ poisoning in cattle. |
| Acacia lahai | Medicine: Bark used for the treatment of skin eruptions in children, clearing toxicaemia of pregnancy and bowels and also as an astringent. |
| Acacia leucophloea | Medicine: Gum is used medicinally. |
| Acacia mellifera | Medicine: The bark decoction is used for stomach-ache, sterility, pneumonia, malaria and syphilis. In Botswana, a decoction of the roots is a medicine for stomach pain. |
| Acacia nilotica subsp nilotica | Medicine: The Zulu of South Africa take the bark for cough. The Maasai of East Africa use a bark decoction as a nerve stimulant, and the root is said to cure impotence. An astringent from the bark is used for diarrhoea, dysentery and leprosy. Bruised leaves are poulticed onto ulcers. The gum or bark is used for cancers and tumours of the ear, eye or testicles and indurations of the liver and spleen, condylomas and excess flesh. Other ailments treated by these products include colds, congestion, fever, gallbladder, haemorrhage, haemorrhoids, leucorrhoea, ophthalmia, sclerosis and smallpox. Bark, gum, leaves and pods are used medicinally in West Africa. Sap or bark, leaves and young pods are strongly astringent because of the tannin the possess, and in Senegal are chewed as an antiscorbutic, and in Ethiopia as a lactogogue. A bark decoction is drunk for intestinal pains. Other preparations are used for, gargle, toothache, ophthalmia and syphilitic ulcers. In Tonga, the root is used to treat tuberculosis. In Lebanon, the resin is mixed with an orange-flower infusion for typhoid convalescence. In Somalia, the wood is used to treat smallpox. Egyptian Nubians believe that diabetics may eat unlimited carbohydrates without any consequences as long as they also consume the pods in powder form. Extracts are inhibitory to at least 4 species of pathogenic fungi. |
| Acacia pennatula | Medicine: The bark is used as a remedy for indigestion. |
| Acacia polyacantha ssp. polyacantha | Medicine: Used as a remedy for snakebite and as an infusion in which to bath children who are restless at night. |
| Acacia senegal | Medicine: Roots are used to treat dysentery, gonorrhea and nodular leprosy. |
| Acacia seyal | Medicine: The bark, leaves and gums are used for colds, diarrhoea, hemorrhage, jaundice, headache and burns. A bark decoction is used against leprosy and dysentery, is a stimulant and acts as a purgative for humans and animals. Exposure to smoke is believed to relieve rheumatic pains. A root decoction mixed with leaves of Combretum glutinosum and curdled milk causes strong diuresis. |
| Acacia sieberiana | Medicine: Pounded bark is used to relieve fever in children. A decoction of the root is taken as remedy for stomach-ache. The bark, leaves and gums are used to treat tapeworm, bilharzia, haemorrhage, orchitis, colds, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, kidney problems, syphilis, ophthalmia, rheumatism and disorders of the circulatory system. It is also used as an astringent. The pods serve as an emollient, and the roots for stomach-ache, acne, tapeworms, urethral problems, oedema and dropsy. |
| Acacia tortilis | Medicine: The dried, powdered bark is used as a disinfectant in healing wounds; in Senegal it serves as an anthelmintic. In Somalia the stem is used to treat asthma. Seeds are taken to treat diarrhoea. |
| Acacia xanthophloea | Medicine: The roots and powdered bark of the stem are used as an emetic and as a prophylactic against malaria. |
| Adansonia digitata | Medicine: Hyposensitive and antihistamine properties are present in the leaves, which are used to treat kidney and bladder diseases, asthma, general fatigue, diarrhoea, insect bites, and guinea worm. Leaf and flower infusions are valued for respiratory problems, digestive disorders and eye inflammation. The seed paste is used for curing tooth and gum diseases. The fruit pulp, seed and bark are reputedly an antidote to Strophanthus poisoning. Gum from the bark is used for cleansing sores. It is also used as an expectorant and a diaphoretic. The bark is used in steam baths for calming shivering and high fever. A decoction of the roots is taken as a remedy for lassitude impotence and kwashiorkor. The bark is boiled and taken as a cure for body pains. This infusion is also used to treat colds, fever and influenza. Seeds are used to cure gastric, kidney and joint diseases; they are roasted then ground and the powder smeared on the affected part or drunk in water. |
| Adenanthera pavonina | Medicine: In India a decoction of young leaves is used against rheumatism and gout. Pulverized wood mixed with water is taken orally for migraines and headaches; and dysentery, diarrhoea and tonsillitis are treated with a bark and leaf decoction. |
| Aegle marmelos | Medicine: A decoction of the unripe fruit, with fennel and ginger, is prescribed in cases of hemorrhoids. It has been surmised that the psoralen in the pulp increases tolerance of sunlight and aids in the maintaining of normal skin color. It is employed in the treatment of leucoderma. Marmelosin derived from the pulp is given as a laxative and diuretic. In large doses, it lowers the rate of respiration, depresses heart action and causes sleepiness. For medicinal use, the young fruits, while still tender, are commonly sliced horizontally and sun-dried and sold in local markets. They are much exported to Malaysia and Europe. Because of the astringency, especially of the wild fruits, the unripe bael is most prized as a means of halting diarrhea and dysentery, which are prevalent in India in the summer months. |
| Afzelia africana | Medicine: An infusion of the bark is used against paralysis, and a decoction against constipation. In Ghana the pulp is used with Pericopsis and Tamarindus as a diuretic and febrifuge. The maceration is a remedy for leprosy. The crushed bark, mixed with honey, is used in veterinary medicine. The ash of the bark, prepared with Shea butter as soap, is used against lumbago. In a decoction or prepared with food, it is a treatment for back-ache. The roots are pulverised with millet-beer in Côte d'Ivoire and used to treat hernias and, in a decoction with pimento, as a remedy against gonorrhoea and stomach-ache. A leaf decoction mixed with Syzygium guineensis leaves and Xylopia fruit forms a drink to treat oedema. The ash of the fruits is rich in potassium salts and is mixed with millet for veterinary purposes. |
| Afzelia quanzensis | Medicine: Roots provide medicine against gonorrhoea, chest pains, kidney problems, bilharzia, eye problems and snakebite. They can be chewed as an aphrodisiac. A mixture of pounded bark and python fat is applied on eczematous spots of the skin, and a small piece of bark is applied to an aching tooth. |
| Ailanthus altissima | Medicine: The tree is used in homeopathic remedies for cancer. It is reported to be antiseptic, astringent, bactericidal, cardiac, cathartic, deobstruent, depressant, emetic, protisticidal, taenifuge, and vermifuge. Tree-of-heaven is a folk remedy for asthma, diarrhea, dysentery, dysmenorrhea, dysuria, ejaculation (premature), epilepsy, eruption, fever, gonorrhea, hematochezia, leucorrhea, malaria, metrorrhagia, sores, spasms, spermatorrhea, stomachic, tumors of the breast (China), and wet dreams. The fruits are used for ophthalmic diseases. In China, it is bechic, emmenagogue, and used for hemorrhoids. In Korea, the root bark is used for cough, gastric and intestinal upsets. Resin extracted from the roots and leaves is a revulsive or vesicant. The disagreeable odor of the plant may cause some people to feel sleepy. The leaves, bark of the trunk, and roots are put into a wash for parasitic ulcers, itch, and eruptions. |
| Ailanthus excelsa | Medicine: Bark, gum and the bitter aromatic leaves are used medicinally in home remedies. |
| Ailanthus triphysa | Medicine: The plant roots, leaves, bark and gum exudates are used as medicine in India. |
| Albizia adianthifolia | Medicine: The bark is poisonous but is used medicinally by the Zulu of South Africa who make a love charm emetic from it. They also prepare an infusion (hot or cold) from the bark and roots to treat skin diseases like scabies. A cold extract from the roots alone is applied to the inflamed eye. In Mozambique, the bark is a remedy for bronchitis. |
| Albizia amara | Medicine: The tree yields a gum used against ulcers; fruits are said to cure malaria and coughs. |
| Albizia anthelmintica | Medicine: The stem bark is widely used as a purgative and anthelmintic. In Somalia, the tree is said to provide a cure for gonorrhoea, the roots are cooked in chicken broth. The twigs are used as toothbrushes for oral hygiene. |
| Albizia coriaria | Medicine: Bark is used for the treatment of menorrhagia, threatened abortion and post-partum haemorrhage. The roots and bark in concoctions with Carissa edulis and Euclea divinorum are used in treating venereal diseases or used in steam fumigation treatments for sore eyes. The bark decoction is used in treating cattle diseases and a number of abdominal problems associated with protozoan parasites. |
| Albizia ferruginea | Medicine: In Ghana, plant parts are used to elicit purgation and treat dysentery. The bark decoction is used as a wash for wounds and sores. |
| Albizia gummifera | Medicine: A bark decoction is used against malaria antiprotozoal properties further validated in in-vitro tests. Lipophilic extracts of A. gummifera revealed very promising antitrypanosomal activity with IC50 values below 1 æg/ml. Four new macrocyclic spermine alkaloids isolated from A. gummifera were active against 2 Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) and 2 Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). In east Africa extracts from the crushed pods are taken for stomach pains and the bark decoction for malaria. |
| Albizia julibrissin | Medicine: The dried stem bark of A. julibrissin is used medicinally in China in the preparation of tonics and sedatives. |
| Albizia lebbeck | Medicine: Leaves and seeds are used for eye problems, and the bark to treat boils. Saponin from pods and roots has spermicidal activity. |
| Albizia procera | Medicine: All parts of the plant are reported to show anti-cancer activity. The roots contain alpha-spinasterol and a saponin that has been reported to possess spermicidal activity at a dilution of 0.008%. A. procera is commonly used in traditional medicines. A decoction of the bark is given for rheumatism and haemorrhage and is considered useful in treating problems of pregnancy and for stomach-ache. The bark is given with salt to water buffalo as a medicine. In India, leaves are poulticed onto ulcers. |
| Albizia saman | Medicine: A decoction of the inner bark and fresh leaves is treatment for diarrhoea, while a brew of small sections of the bark is taken to treat stomach-ache. A crude aqueous or alcoholic extract of the leaves is observed to have an inhibiting effect on Mycobacterium tuberculosis. |
| Albizia versicolor | Medicine: The root bark is used as an enema and purgative. The leaves and bark are used to soothe headaches. An infusion made from the bark is used as a wash for sore eyes and to treat skin diseases. |
| Albizia zygia | Medicine: Molluscicidal activity shown by leaf extracts of A. zygia. |
| Aleurites moluccana | Medicine: Bark used to treat tumours in Japan. The oil is purgative and sometimes used like castor oil. Kernels are laxative, a stimulant and a sudorific. The irritant oil is rubbed on scalp as a hair stimulant. In Malaya, the pulped kernel is used in poultices for headache, fevers, ulcers and swollen joints. In Java, the bark is used for bloody diarrhoea or dysentery. Bark juice with coconut milk is used for sprue. Malayans apply boiled leaves to the body for headaches and gonorrhoea. |
| Allanblackia floribunda | Medicine: In Ghana, the pounded bark is used as a pain reliever for toothache and against diarrhoea. There is an on-going research at the National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, USA on HIV-inhibitory activities from its extracts. |
| Allanblackia stuhlmannii | Medicine: Fresh leaves are chewed to cure coughs. The oil from seeds is drunk in small quantities twice a day for rheumatism. Leaves and roots are used as medicine for impotence. |
| Allanblackia ulugurensis | Medicine: The fat is used against coughs and chest problems. |
| Alnus acuminata | Medicine: Macerated leaves are used in a variety of medicinal applications for joint and muscular pains and for rheumatism as well as skin infections. An infusion is recommended as part of a treatment for prostate inflammation. |
| Alnus rubra | Medicine: The methanol extract of the bark of A. rubra has shown antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. Diarylheptanoid and its glycoside (oregonin) have been identified as the active ingredients. |
| Alphitonia zizyphoides | Medicine: The bark, often in combination with other species, is used for treatment of stomachaches, constipation, coughs, headaches, menstrual pain, and prolapsed rectum in postpartum women. The sap is used to treat earache, swelling, fever, and cancer. A phenolic compound in the bark, alphitol, has been shown to have anti-inflammatory activity. |
| Alstonia boonei | Medicine: The bark of A. boonei contains echitamine (main alkaloid), 2 echitamidine derivatives and a lactone boonein. The triterpenes beta-amyrin and lupenol are also found in the bark, and ursolic acid in the leaves. The 2 alkaloids have diuretic, spasmolytic and hypotensive properties. An infusion in cold water of the stem bark is drunk as a cure for venereal diseases, worms, snakebite and rheumatic pains and to relax muscles. It is also taken internally or used as a bath as a remedy for dizziness. An infusion of root and stem bark is drunk as a remedy for asthma; a liquid made from the stem bark and fruit is drunk once daily to treat impotence. In Ghana, a decoction of the bark is given after childbirth to help the delivery of the placenta. It is used from Cote d’Ivoire through to Burkina Faso as a decoction to cleanse suppurating sores and exposed fractures; in Nigeria for sores and ulcers, and in Cameroon and Liberia for snakebite and arrow poison. The bark has widespread use in Ghana to assuage toothache; in Sierra Leone it is used as an anthelmintic. The latex is said to be an antidote for Strophanthus poison. In Cote d’Ivoire the leaves, pulped to a mash, are applied topically to reduce oedema, and leaf sap is used to cleanse sores. |
| Alstonia congensis | Medicine: About 15 alkaloids have been isolated from the root bark, stem bark and leaves of this tree with similar uses as A. boonei as a diuretic and hypotensive. |
| Alstonia scholaris | Medicine: Australian aborigines used the bark for treatment of abdominal pains and fevers, the latex for neuralgia and toothache. In India, the bark is used to treat bowel complaints and has proved a valuable remedy for chronic diarrhoea and the advanced stages of dysentery. Leaves used for treating beriberi, dropsy and congested liver. |
| Altingia excelsa | Medicine: In Java, in traditional medicine, the leaves are used to cure coughs. |
| Anacardium occidentale | Medicine: Cashew syrup is a good remedy for coughs and colds. Cashew apple juice is said to be effective for the treatment of syphilis. Root infusion is an excellent purgative. Old cashew liquor in small doses cures stomach-ache. The oil obtained from the shell by maceration in spirit is applied to cure cracks on the sole of the feet, common in villagers. Cashew apple is anti-scorbutic, astringent and diuretic, and is used for cholera and kidney troubles. Bark is astringent, counterirritant, rubefacient, vesicant, and used for ulcer. Cashew nut shell oil is anti-hypertensive and purgative; it is used for blood sugar problems, kidney troubles, cholera, cracks on soles of feet, hookworms, corns and warts. The kernel is a demulcent, an emollient and is used for diarrhoea. Buds and young leaves are used for skin diseases. The resinous juice of seeds is used for mental derangement, heart palpitation, rheumatism; it was used to cure the loss of memory that was a sequel to smallpox. |
| Andira inermis | Medicine: The bark is used as a vermifuge, seeds are purgative and have narcotic properties. A leaf decoction is used for washing in Africa. |
| Annona cherimola | Medicine: In Mexico, rural people toast, peel and pulverize 1 or 2 seeds and take the powder with water or milk as a potent emetic and cathartic. Mixed with grease, the powder is applied on parasitic skin disorders. A decoction of the skin of the fruit is taken to relieve pneumonia. |
| Annona muricata | Medicine: The crushed leaves are applied to mature boils and abscesses or are used as a remedy for distention and dyspepsia, scabies and skin diseases, rheumatism, coughs and colds. The leaves may also be used to make a decoction, which is taken orally with salt for digestive tract ailments and to relieve fatigue. A crushed leaf and seed decoction is taken orally for intestinal malaise. A massage of the leaves is good for nervous shock, while a leaf or bark decoction is used for anxiety attacks. Flower or flower bud tea is mixed with honey for colds, chest pain and nerve disorders, and the bark and young fruits, which contain tannin, are used to treat diarrhoea and dysentery. The green bark is rubbed on wounds to stop bleeding. |
| Annona reticulata | Medicine: A decoction of the leaf is given as a vermifuge. Crushed leaves or a paste of the flesh may be poulticed on boils, abscesses and ulcers. The unripe fruit is rich in tannin It is dried, pulverized and employed against diarrhea and dysentery. The bark is very astringent and the decoction is taken as a tonic and also as a remedy for diarrhea and dysentery. In severe cases, the leaves, bark and green fruits are all boiled together for 5 minutes in a litre of water to make an exceedingly potent decoction. Fragments of the root bark are put around the gums to relieve toothache. The root decoction is taken as a febrifuge. |
| Annona senegalensis | Medicine: The bark is used for treating guinea worms and other worms, diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, snakebite, toothache and respiratory infections. Gum from the bark is used in sealing cuts and wounds. The leaves are used for treating pneumonia and as a tonic to promote general well being. The roots are used for stomach-ache, venereal diseases, chest colds and dizziness. Various plant parts are combined for treating dermatological diseases and ophthalmic disorders. |
| Annona squamosa | Medicine: Leaves, shoots, bark and roots have been reported to have medicinal properties. The unripe fruit is astringent, and the root is a drastic purgative. |
| Anogeissus latifolia | Medicine: Used in treating snake bites and scorpion stings in India. |
| Anthocephalus cadamba | Medicine: The dried bark is used to relieve fever and as a tonic. An extract of the leaves serves as a mouth gargle. |
| Antiaris toxicaria | Medicine: The leaves and root are used to treat mental illnesses. Seed, leaves and bark are used as an astringent and the seeds as an antidysenteric. |
| Antidesma bunius | Medicine: The leaves are sudorific and employed in treating snakebite in Asia. |
| Arbutus unedo | Medicine: The tree is little used in herbalism but deserves modern investigation. All parts of the plant contain ethyl gallate, a substance that possesses strong antibiotic activity against the Mycobacterium bacteria. The leaves, bark and root are astringent and diuretic. They are also a renal antiseptic and so used in the treatment of infections of the urinary system such as cystitis and urethritis. It is used in the treatment of diarrhea and dysentery and, a gargle can be made for treating sore and irritated throats. The flowers are weakly diaphoretic. |
| Areca catechu | Medicine: Arecanut is used against anaemia, fits, leucoderma, leprosy, obesity and worms. In combination with other ingredients, it is also a purgative and an ointment for nasal ulcers. Kernels of green and mature fruits are chewed as an astringent and stimulant, often with the leaves or fruit of betel pepper (Piper betle) and lime. |
| Arenga pinnata | Medicine: Roots provide medicinal products, such as a tea decoction used to cure bladder trouble. |
| Argania spinosa | Medicine: It has been scientifically proven that argan oil is rich in vitamin E and has properties which lower the cholesterol levels, stimulates circulation of the blood, facilitates digestion and strengthens the body’s natural defences. Berbers of the south west of Morocco use the argan oil to cure chicken pox, juvenile acne and stretch marks on pregnant woman. |
| Artemisia annua | Medicine: An important natural anti-malarial drug efficacious against drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium, the malarial parasite. Artemisinin has a chemical structure called a peroxide bridge, which can be cleaved by iron ions to form free radicals that attack a range of proteins and other bio-molecules. Some researchers suspected that such an attack would be fatal for the parasites. Others speculated that, like the malaria drug chloroquine, artemisinin frustrates the removal of haem, a toxic by-product formed during the parasite’s consumption of human haemoglobin. The leaves are antiperiodic, antiseptic, digestive and febrifuge. Traditionally an infusion of the leaves is used internally to treat fevers, colds, diarrhea etc. Externally, the leaves are poulticed onto nose bleeds, boils and abscesses. The seeds are used in the treatment of flatulence, indigestion, tuberclosis and night sweats. |
| Artocarpus altilis | Medicine: Toasted flowers are rubbed on the gums around aching teeth to ease pain. Latex is massaged into the skin to treat broken bones and sprains and is bandaged on the spine to relieve sciatica. It is commonly used to treat skin ailments and fungal diseases such as thrush. The latter is also treated with crushed leaves. Diluted latex is taken internally to treat diarrhoea, stomach-ache and dysentery. Latex and juice from the crushed leaves are both traditionally used in the Pacific Islands to treat ear infections. The root is an astringent and is used as a purgative; when macerated it was used as a poultice for skin ailments. The bark is used in several Pacific Islands to treat headache. In the West Indies, the yellowing leaf is brewed into a tea and taken to reduce high blood pressure. The tea is also thought to control diabetes. Leaves are used in Taiwan to treat liver diseases and fevers, and an extract from the flowers was effective in treating ear oedema. Bark extracts exhibited strong cytotoxic activities against leukaemia cells in tissue culture, and extracts from roots and stem barks showed some antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria and may have potential in treating tumours. |
| Artocarpus camansi | Medicine: No specific medicinal uses are reported, but the breadnut tree probably has medicinal properties similar to breadfruit. |
| Artocarpus heterophyllus | Medicine: Ashes of leaves, with or without oil, are used in Malaysia and Philippines to treat ulcers, diarrhoea, boils, stomach-ache and wounds. Pulp and seeds of the fruit are regarded as a cooling tonic. Seeds are said to be an aphrodisiac. The sap is an anti-syphilitic and a vermifuge. Wood is claimed to have sedative properties, and its pith is said to be able to induce abortion. A root decoction is used to alleviate fever, treat diarrhoea, skin diseases and asthma. The bacteriolytic activity of A. heterophyllus latex is equal to that of papaya latex. Dried latex yields artotenone, a compound with marked androgenic action; it can also be mixed with vinegar to promote healing of abscesses, snakebite and glandular swellings. |
| Artocarpus lakoocha | Medicine: The root is an astringent and is used as a purgative; when macerated it was used as a poultice for skin ailments. The bark is used to treat headache. |
| Artocarpus mariannensis | Medicine: All parts are used medicinally, especially the latex, leaf tips, and inner bark. The latex is massaged into the skin to treat broken bones and sprains and is plastered on the spine to relieve sciatica. It is commonly used to treat skin ailments and fungus diseases such as “thrush,” which is also treated with crushed leaves. Diluted latex is taken internally to treat diarrhea, stomachaches, and dysentery. The sap from the crushed petioles (leaf stalks) is used to treat ear infections or sore eyes. The root is astringent and used as a purgative; when macerated, it is used as a poultice for skin ailments. The bark is also used to treat headaches. |
| Asimina triloba | Medicine: The seeds of the Pawpaw contain an alkaloid, asiminine, which is reported to have emetic properties. The fruit is used as a laxative, leaves are diuretic, and are applied externally to boils, ulcers and abscesses. The seed contains the alkaline asiminine, which is emetic and narcotic. They have been powdered and applied to hair to kill lice. It has also been used in homeopathy as a remedy for scarlet fever and red skin rashes. The bark is a bitter tonic and contains the alkaline analobine, which is used medicinally. The Pawpaw made headlines in 1992 when a Purdue University researcher reportedly isolated a powerful anti- cancer drug, as well as a safe natural pesticide from the Pawpaw tree. The substances are said to be primarily found in the twigs and small branches, and is among the most potent and least toxic anti-cancer agents currently known. |
| Aucomea klaineana | Medicine: Bark is applied to treat superficial wounds and abscesses. The astringent bark is used to treat diarrhea. |
| Averrhoa bilimbi | Medicine: In the Philippines, the leaves are applied as a paste or poulticed on itches, swellings of mumps and rheumatism, and on skin eruptions. Elsewhere, they are applied on bites of poisonous creatures. Malaysians take the leaves fresh or fermented as a treatment for venereal disease. A leaf infusion is a remedy for coughs and is taken after childbirth as a tonic. A leaf decoction is taken to relieve rectal inflammation. A flower infusion is said to be effective against coughs and thrush. In Java, the fruits combined with pepper are eaten to cause sweating when people are feeling "under the weather". A paste of pickled bilimbis is smeared all over the body to hasten recovery after a fever. The fruit conserve is administered as a treatment for coughs, beri-beri and biliousness. Syrup prepared from the fruit is taken as a cure for fever and inflammation and to stop rectal bleeding and alleviate internal hemorrhoids. |
| Averrhoa carambola | Medicine: Fruit can be a laxative on account of the oxalic acid it contains. It is also used in traditional medicine for skin disorders and fevers. |
| Azadirachta excelsa | Medicine: Seed products of Azadirachta species have been used for a long time in traditional medicine. |
| Azadirachta indica | Medicine: Neem has proved effective against certain fungi that infect humans. In a laboratory study, neem preparations showed toxicity to cultures of 14 common fungi. The tree has suppressed several species of pathogenic bacteria, including Salmonella typhosa and Staphylococus aureus. Various parts of A. indica have anthelmintic, antiperiodic, antiseptic, diuretic and purgative actions, and are also used to treat boils, pimples, eye diseases, hepatitis, leprosy, rheumatism, scrofula, ringworm and ulcers. Leaf teas are used to treat malaria. People use the twigs as toothbrushes, and dentists find twigs effective in preventing periodontal disease. Neem oil is a powerful spermicide and can therefore be used as an inexpensive birth control method. A neem oil-based product, Sensal, is being marketed in India as an intravaginal contraceptive. Neem oil has been used traditionally as a topical treatment for skin symptoms in both humans and livestock, but it should not be ingested orally. |
| Azanza garckeana | Medicine: A decoction is made from the roots and taken orally for painful menstruation and to treat coughs and chest pains. An infusion made from the roots and leaves is dropped into the ear to treat earache or taken orally as an antiemetic. |
| Balanites aegyptiaca | Medicine: Decoction of root is used to treat malaria. Roots boiled in soup are used against oedema and stomach pains. Roots are used as an emetic; bark infusion is used to treat heartburn. Wood gum mixed with maize meal porridge is used to treat chest pains. The bark is used to deworm cattle in Rajasthan. |
| Barringtonia procera | Medicine: Leaves and bark are largely used medicinally. The leaves have been used to treat inflammation of the ear and headaches. Sap from the bark has been used for treating ciguatera poisoning, coughs, and urinary infections, and the red-leafed form is used as a contraceptive and for abortion. |
| Barringtonia racemosa | Medicine: Root, bark and juice are used medicinally in the East; the Zulu tribe of South Africa uses the fruit to remedy malaria. The fruit is used to treat cough, asthma and diarrhoea; pulverized fruit is used as snuff. Seeds are used to treat eye inflammation and by midwives for parturition. In Malaysia, the leaves traditionally are used to treat high blood pressure and as a depurative. Pounded leaves are said to treat chicken pox. |
| Bauhinia purpurea | Medicine: Throughout South-East Asia various parts of numerous Bauhinia species are used in poulticing to reduce swelling and bruises, and to ripen ulcerations and boils. Decoctions of various plant parts are taken internally as a febrifugal, antidiarrhoeal and antidysenteric remedy and also it is used as an astringent. In India, the bark is extensively applied in glandular diseases and as a poison antidote while the leaves are administered as cough medicine. The flowers are said to be laxative and used in curries and pickles. |
| Bauhinia rufescens | Medicine: An extract of the root is used as an astringent or antipyretic in local medicine. Leaves and fruit are applied for the treatment of diarrhoea, dysentery and ophthalmic diseases. The bark of the roots and trunk is used to cure chest complaints, syphilis and other venereal diseases, leprosy, diarrhoea and dysentery and to reduce fever. |
| Bauhinia tomentosa | Medicine: The dried leaf and flower bud of B. tomentosa and a decoction of the root and bark are used medicinally by the African doctors of South Africa. In India and Sri Lanka, the root bark is used internally for conditions of the large intestine, while the flower is used as a remedy for dysentery and diarrhoea. A decoction of the root bark is used in India as a vermifuge and an infusion of the stem bark as an astringent gargle. The fruit is said to be diuretic, and the seed is eaten in India as a tonic and aphrodisiac. In Madura, the leaf is an ingredient in a plaster applied to abscesses. A decoction of the root bark is used as a vermifuge, and an infusion made from the stem bark is used as an astringent gargle. A decoction of the root bark is used for abdominal troubles and as an anthelmintic. An infusion of the root bark is used as an external application to inflamed glands, abscesses and skin conditions, while the fruit is said to be diuretic and an infusion of the rind is used as an astringent gargle. A paste of the seed made with vinegar is used as a local application to the wounds produced by venomous animals. |
| Bauhinia variegata | Medicine: The bark decoction is used for diarrhoea control, as an astringent alternative and for treating scrofula, skin diseases and ulcers. |
| Berchemia discolor | Medicine: The roots have various medicinal uses. |
| Bertholletia excelsa | Medicine: Folk medicine for liver problems is obtained from the bark of the tree. |
| Bischofia javanica | Medicine: B. javanica has been shown to have antiulcer, anthelmintic and antidysenteric activities. |
| Bixa orellana | Medicine: Leaves are applied to the head and to sprains to relieve aches; a decoction is gargled as a cure for mouth and throat infections. Leaves may also be used in baths to relieve colic or to get rid of worms in children. A root decoction is taken orally to control asthma. A macerated seed decoction is taken orally for relief of fever, and the pulp surrounding the seed is made into an astringent drink used to treat dysentery and kidney infection. Oliguria and jaundice are treated using root teas; infusions of root in water and rum are used to treat venereal diseases. The dye is used as an antidote for prussic acid poisoning caused by poorly treated Manihot esculenta. Seeds are used as expectorant. |
| Blighia sapida | Medicine: In Ghana several uses are recorded for B. sapida; the bark is one of the ingredients in a concoction administered for epilepsy. Leaf juice is used for washing or as drops for sore eyes, conjuntivitis and trachoma. The pulp of twiggy leaves is applied on the forehead to treat migraine/ headache. |
| Bombax costatum | Medicine: The bark is used for the treatment of skin diseases, yellow fever and headache, leaves and immature fruit as an emmolient. Various parts are used for fever or to promote lactation and as tonic for fatigue. |
| Borassus aethiopum | Medicine: In traditional medicine, palm wine is a component of several aphrodisiac preparations. The flowers help against aphonia, and young leaves are used to stop haemorrhage. |
| Boscia angustifolia | Medicine: Bark is applied on swollen feet, for kidney pains and stiff neck, roots for chest pains, fruit as a laxative. Pounded leaves are used as tonic for horses and camels. |
| Boscia senegalensis | Medicine: In Niger, an infusion of leaves is used to remove intestinal parasites from camels. Leaves contain the alkaloids L-stachydrine and hydroxy-3 stachydrine. Stachydrine affects aggregation of thrombocytes and shortens the bleeding time. Roots are vermifuge and leaves mixed with millet flour taken each morning on an empty stomach is anthelminthic; draught from leaves or dried bark taken for schistosomiasis. Infusion of the leaves used as an eyewash in Sudan and for pruritus of the eye due to syphilis in Senegal. |
| Boswellia serrata | Medicine: The salai guggal gum is used as a diaphoretic and astringent. |
| Brachystegia spiciformis | Medicine: An infusion of the root provides treatment for dysentery and diarrhoea. A decoction is applied as an eyewash for conjunctivitis. |
| Bridelia micrantha | Medicine: A bark decoction is taken as a remedy for stomach-ache and tapeworm. The bark is also boiled to make a soup for treating diarrhoea in children, or is mixed with milk and drunk as a tonic. A decoction of roots is drunk to cure aching joints. The leaf sap is used as an application to sore eyes and, in a decoction with a number of other plants, for the treatment of conjunctivitis. The root is used as a remedy for severe epigastric pain and is applied to the scalp to relieve headache. A decoction of the root is drunk as a purgative, an anthelmintic or an antidote for poison, as it causes vomiting or diarrhoea that gets rid of the poison. An infusion made from the root is taken orally for coughs. The powdered bark is applied to burns to speed healing. |
| Broussonetia papyrifera | Medicine: It is said to be astringent, diuretic, tonic, vulnerary. The leaf juice is diaphoretic and laxative. The leaves are employed for blood sputum, vomiting blood, uterine bleeding, excess menstrual bleeding, bleeding wounds in Chinese medicine and for a bleeding stomach in Hawaii. |
| Bruguiera gymnorhiza | Medicine: The astringent bark is used to treat malaria in Cambodia, cure fish poisoning in the Marshall Islands and to treat diarrhea and fever in Indonesia. Elsewhere the fruit is used against eye problems, and scrapped skin of the fruit to stop bleeding. Seedlings may be added to betel nut as an astringent. The fruit may also be chewed as a betel nut substitute. The leaves are used to control blood pressure in India |
| Bucida buceras | Medicine: In Haiti, bark and leaf decoction is taken for fever. |
| Butea monosperma | Medicine: The flowers are useful in the treatment of liver disorders and seeds act as an anthelmintic. An astringent gum oozing from the cut stem has medicinal properties as a powerful astringent and is applied in cases of diarrhoea. |
| Byrsonima crassifolia | Medicine: The bark of B. crassifolia is used to treat skin infections and gastrointestinal disorders by the Mixe Indians of Mexico, bark infusion is taken to halt diarrhoea, as a febrifuge and to promote menstruation. It is considered beneficial in pulmonary complaints, cases of leucorrhea, indigestion, and allegedly tightens the teeth where the gums are diseased. In Belize, it is taken as an antidote for snakebite. In Guyana, the pounded bark is poulticed on wounds. Mexicans apply the pulverized bark on ulcers. |
| Cadaba farinosa | Medicine: Crushed leaves mixed with millet-flour are used as a medicine against coughs. |
| Caesalpinia sappan | Medicine: A decoction of the wood is a powerful emmenagogue and, because of its tannic and gallic acids, is an astringent used in mild cases of dysentery and diarrhoea. It is also given internally for certain skin ailments. The sappan is given as a tonic to women after confinement and to relieve vomiting of blood. It is one of the ingredients in a mixture prescribed for malaria. The dried heartwood is widely used in oriental medicine, particularly against inflammation. Seeds serve as a sedative. |
| Caesalpinia spinosa | Medicine: The powder within pods is used as eyewash. |
| Cajanus cajan | Medicine: It has many traditional uses as medicine. In Java, for example, the young leaves are applied to sores, herpes and itches. |
| Calophyllum brasiliense | Medicine: The resin called balsámo de maría, has been used medicinally. |
| Calophyllum inophyllum | Medicine: Oil extracted from the fruit is employed as a remedy for rheumatism, ulcers and skin diseases. Bark is said to be an astringent. A decoction of the bark and latex is used medicinally: internally against diarrhoea and after childbirth, externally against skin and eye diseases and rheumatism. Leaves, flowers and seeds are sometimes also used in local medicine. |
| Calotropis procera | Medicine: Compounds derived from the plant have been found to have emeto-cathartic and digitalic properties. The principal active medicinals are asclepin and mudarin. Other compounds have been found to have bactericidal and vermicidal properties. The latex contains a proteolytic enzyme called caloptropaine. An infusion of bark powder is used in the treatment and cure of leprosy and elephantiasis. It is inadvisable to use bark that has been kept for more than a year. The root bark is an emetic, the flower a digestive, and a tonic is used for asthma and catarrh. Bark and wood stimulate lactation in cattle. Roots (extremely poisonous) are applied for snakebite. The milky sap is used as a rubefacient and is also strongly purgative and caustic. The latex is used for treating ringworm, guinea worm blisters, scorpion stings, venereal sores and ophthalmic disorders; also used as a laxative. Its use in India in the treatment of skin diseases has caused severe bullous dermatitis leading sometimes to hypertrophic scars. The local effect of the latex on the conjunctiva is congestion, epiphora and local anaesthesia. The twigs are applied for the preparation of diuretics, stomach tonic and anti-diarrhoetics and for asthma. Also used in abortion, as an anthelmintic, for colic, cough, whooping cough, dysentery, headache, lice treatment, jaundice, sore gums and mouth, toothache, sterility, swellings and ulcers. |
| Cananga odorata | Medicine: The essential oil from the flowers contains caryophyllene, used to treat hepatitis and has a wide range of medicinal applications. The seeds may be used to treat fever. In Indonesia, the flowers are used against malaria and leaves are rubbed on skin to treat itchiness. Dried flowers and bark are also used medicinally. The oil has a euphoric and sedative effect on the nervous system; it can help with anxiety, tension, shock, fear and panic. Its aphrodisiac qualities may be of use in impotence and frigidity. The oil could have a soothing effect on the skin and its stimulating effect on the scalp could promote more luxurious hair growth |
| Canarium indicum | Medicine: The bark is used in traditional medicine for treatment of vomiting, and the young leaves for the treatment of scabies and ciguatera poisoning. |
| Canarium ovatum | Medicine: Resin is soft, odorous and has the texture of honey. It was formerly exported for the European pharmaceutical trade as Manila or Philippine gum elemi for use as an ointment for healing wounds and as a plaster. Raw nuts are a purgative. |
| Canarium schweinfurthii | Medicine: In the past, the resin was exported to Europe for pharmaceutical use. It was used as a substitute for gum-mastic in making wound dressings in World War II. A bark decoction is used against dysentery, gonorrhea, coughs, chest pains, pulmonary affections, stomach complaints, food poisoning, and it is purgative and emetic. The resin is used against roundworm infections and other intestinal parasites. It is an emollient, stimulant, diuretic and has action on skin-affections and eczema. The pounded bark is used against leprosy and ulcers. Root is used against adenites whereas root scrapings are made into a poultice. |
| Capparis decidua | Medicine: The very bitter roots are used in the Indian and Farsi pharmacopoeia and the root bark is used to cure swollen joints. |
| Capparis tomentosa | Medicine: The Zulus of South Africa use it to cure madness, snakebite, headache, impotence and sterility (in women). It is also used to treat fever; mixed with dried hyena and antelope blood and ox fat, it is used in the ritual treatment of pneumonia. A decoction of the leaves is used for the treatment of asthma; a decoction prepared by scraping the bark and mixing it with goat soup is drunk for chest pains. Decoction of the root is a cough remedy, but it must be used with care, as it is highly poisonous when taken in large quantities. |
| Carapa guianensis | Medicine: The bark contains an alkaloid, carapina, that is used as a febrifuge. Leaves boiled in water are applied to itchy skin; a fruit rind decoction is taken orally for fever and intestinal worms; a seed oil decoction is taken orally for hepatitis and tetanus and applied externally for skin diseases and ringworm. |
| Carica papaya | Medicine: Carapine, an alkaloid present in papaya, can be used as a heart depressant, amoebicide and diuretic. The fruit and juice are eaten for gastrointestinal ailments; a fresh leaf poultice is used to treat sores. The fresh root with sugarcane alcohol can be taken orally or as a massage to soothe rheumatism. A flower decoction is taken orally for coughs, bronchitis, asthma and chest colds. In some countries, the seeds are used as an abortifacient and vermifuge. |
| Carissa congesta | Medicine: The unripe fruit is used medicinally as an astringent. The ripe fruit is taken as an antiscorbutic and remedy for biliousness. The leaf decoction is valued in cases of intermittent fever, diarrhoea, oral inflammation and earache. The root is employed as a bitter stomachic, vermifuge and an ingredient in a remedy for itches. |
| Carissa edulis | Medicine: Roots contain an active ingredient, carissin, that may prove useful in the treatment of cancer. The twigs contain quebrachytol and cardioglycosides that are useful as an anthelmintic against tapeworm. In Guinea, the boiled leaves are applied as poultice to relieve toothache. Root bark is mixed with spices and used as an enema for lumbago and other pains in Ghana; root scrapings are used for glandular inflammation; ground-up roots are used as a remedy for venereal diseases, to restore virility, to treat gastric ulcers, cause abortion, and as an expectorant. An infusion of roots along with other medicinal plants is used for treating chest pains, and a root decoction is also used for treating malaria. |
| Caryota urens | Medicine: A porridge prepared from C. urens flour is prescribed by local physicians to treat gastric ulcers, migraine headaches, snake-bite poisoning and rheumatic swellings. The root is used for tooth ailments, the bark and seed to treat boils, and the tender flowers for promoting hair growth. |
| Casimiroa edulis | Medicine: For many years, extracts from the leaves, bark, and especially the seeds have been employed in Mexico as sedatives, soporifics and tranquilizers. The fruit is considered medicinal, the ancient Nahuatl name for the fruits "cochiztzapotl" is translated "sleepy sapote" or "sleep-producing sapote". Eating the fruit produces drowsiness and it is widely claimed in Mexico and Central America that consumption of the fruit relieves the pains of arthritis and rheumatism. The fruit is also reportedly vermifugal. The narcotic property of the seeds was first identified as an alkaloid by Dr. Jesus Sanchez of Mexico in his thesis, 'Breve estudio sobre la almendra del zapote blanco' in 1893 many years later the alkaloidal glycoside casimirin was related with the soporific activity. Since then a number of other substances especially alkaloids have been identified e.g. casimiroine, casimiroedine, the main seed alkaloid, casimiroedine, represents 0.143% content. Crushed and roasted seeds are effective in healing putrid sores. In Costa Rica, the leaf decoction is taken as a treatment for diabetes. Vasodepressive activity of the white sapote is attributed to Na-dimethy-1-histamine, formerly found in nature only in the sponge, Geodia gigas. |
| Cassia abbreviata | Medicine: Root decoction used in treating gastrointestinal disorders, malaria, gonorrhoea, pneumonia, uterus complaints and as a purgative. Stem bark used to treat dysentery, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, toothache, blackwater fever, abdominal pains and as an abortifacient. Smoke of burnt branches inhaled to relieve headaches. The laxative activity of most Cassia spp. is linked to the anthraquinone emodin and its associated glycosides. Methanolic extracts of the stem bark antagonized responses to acetylcholine and serotonin in a concentration-dependent manner. |
| Cassia fistula | Medicine: The drug "C. fistula", a mild laxative, is obtained from the sweetish pulp around the seed. Reported to be aperient, astringent, laxative, purgative, and vermifuge, Indian laburnum is a folk remedy for burns, cancer, constipation, convulsions, delirium, diarrhoea, dysuria, epilepsy, gravel, hematuria, pimples, and glandular tumors. Ayurvedic medicine recognizes the seed as antibilious, aperitif, carminative, and laxative, the root is used for adenopathy, burning sensations, leprosy, skin diseases, syphilis, and tubercular glands, the leaves for erysipelas, malaria, rheumatism, and ulcers, the buds for biliousness, constipation, fever, leprosy, and skin disease, the fruit for abdominal pain, constipation, fever, heart disease, and leprosy. Yunani use the leaves for inflammation, the flowers for a purgative, the fruit as anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, abortifacient, demulcent, purgative, refrigerant, good for chest complaints, eye ailments, flu, heart and liver ailments, and rheumatism, though suspected of inducing asthma. Seeds are considered emetic. Konkanese use the juice to alleviate ringworm and blisters caused by the marking nut, a relative of poison ivy. Leaf poultices are applied to the chilblains so common in the upper Sind; also used in facial massage for brain afflictions, and applied externally for paralysis and rheumatism, also for gout. Zimbabweans use the pulp for anthrax, blood poisoning, blackwater fever, dysentery, and malaria. Ghana natives use the pulp from around the seed as a safe and useful purgative. Throughout the Far East, the uncooked pulp of the pods is a popular remedy for constipation. A decoction of the root bark is recommended for cleaning wounds. In the West Indies, the pulp and/or leaves are poulticed onto inflamed viscera, e.g. the liver. The bark and leaves are used for skin diseases, flowers used for fever, root as a diuretic, febrifuge, for gout and rheumatism. |
| Cassia grandis | Medicine: The fruit pulp is used as a laxative similar to C. fistula and reported to be more powerful. The ripe pods and seeds of C. grandis are also used as a laxative. A decoction of the leaves is used as a laxative and in the treatment of lumbago. Fresh juice of the leaves of C. grandis is used externally in the treatment of ringworm. Anthraquinones are found in C. grandis (aloe-emodin). Compounds isolated from C. grandis include centaureidine, catechin, myristicin, 2,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde, 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzaldehyde, 2,4,6-trimethoxybenzaldehyde, beta-sitosterol, kokusaginine (6,7-dimethoxyfuroquinoline) and fabioline (1,1'-bipiperidine). The ethanol extract of the leaves and bark of C. grandis showed in vitro antifungal activity against Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum gypseum and Trichophyton rubrum in pure culture at a minimal inhibitory concentration of 50 microgram/ml. |
| Cassia javanica | Medicine: The ripe pods and seeds are used as a traditional laxative throughout the Malesian area. In Thailand, bark and seeds are also used as antipyretics. However, it was noted that emesis may be observed. Anthraquinone glycosides are found in C. javanica |
| Castanospermum australe | Medicine: C. australe is used to treat post-prandial hyperglycaemia in diabetic patients. |
| Casuarina equisetifolia | Medicine: Root extracts are used for medical treatment of dysentery, diarrhoea and stomach-ache. In West Malaysia, a decoction of the twigs is used for treating swelling and the powdered bark is used for treating pimples on the face. |
| Cedrela odorata | Medicine: Root and trunk bark is used to reduce fever and pain; the trunk is harvested to prepare a decoction for abortion; seeds are believed to have vermifugal properties. |
| Cedrus deodara | Medicine: Essential oils extracted from deodar and from cedar of Lebanon have been used as antiseptics and against tuberculosis, in Asia. Its oil and extracts are used as insecticides and herbal remedies against many animal diseases in India. The herbal pesticide Pestoban is a liquid concentrate of three Indian medicinal plants including Cedrus deodara. It is also a potent molluscicide. |
| Ceiba pentandra | Medicine: Compressed fresh leaves are used against dizziness; decoction of the boiled roots is used to treat oedema; gum is eaten to relieve stomach upset; tender shoot decoction is a contraceptive and leaf infusion is taken orally against cough and hoarse throat. In Tamilnadu, India, the leaves are pounded together with fermented boiled rice water and the extract is administered to cows orally as a remedy for reproductive problems. The dose is approx. 500 ml three times a day for three consecutive days. |
| Celtis australis | Medicine: Extracts from the tree are used to treat edema, headache and boils. |
| Ceratonia siliqua | Medicine: Tannins extracted from the pulp act as an anti-diarrhoetic. Ground pulp and seed endosperm are used in the preparation of pharmaceutical products. |
| Chrysophyllum cainito | Medicine: Undersides of leaves are grated and applied as a poltice to a wound; leaf decoction is taken orally for hypoglycaemia. Fruit is used in treating haemorrhage or is cooked and used for fever. The bark, latex and seeds also possess medicinal properties. |
| Chukrasia tabularis | Medicine: An extract of the bark has powerful astringent properties and has been used as a febrifuge. |
| Cinchona pubescens | Medicine: Over half the harvested bark is utilized in the manufacture of the quinine prescription drug. In Brazilian herbal medicine quinine bark is considered tonic, stomachic, and febrifuge. It is used for anemia, indigestion, gastrointestinal disorders, general fatigue, fevers, malaria and as an appetite stimulant. Other folk remedies in South America cite quinine bark as a natural remedy for cancer (breast, glands, liver, mesentery, spleen), amoebiasis, cardidtis, colds, diarrhea, dysentery, dyspepsia, fevers, flu, hangover, lumbago, malaria, neuralgia, pneumonia, sciatica, typhoid, and varicose veins. In European herbal medicine the bark is considered antiprotozoal, antispasmodic, antimalarial, a bitter tonic, and febrifuge. There it is used as an appetite stimulant, for hair loss, alcoholism, liver, spleen, and gallbladder disorders; and to treat arrhythmia, anemia, leg cramps and fevers of all kinds. Although all cinchona species are good sources of quinine, C. succirubra and C. ledgeriana are the species containing the highest amount of quinine alkaloids. |
| Cinnamomum tamala | Medicine: Leaves of C. tamala are used in colic and diarrhoeal preparations. C. tamala leaf extracts produce a hypoglycaemic effect in experimental rats. Hydrodistilled essential oils of C. tamala screened for their anti-fungal activity against Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum microsporum audounil causing ring worm diseases in animals and humans exhibited fungicidal or fungistatic toxicity and were more effective than the synthetic antifungal agents, clotrimazole, griseofulvin or nystatin. Plant parts are used in many ayurvedic preparations e.g. sudarshan, choorna and chanderprabhavati. |
| Cinnamomum verum | Medicine: Cinnamon bark oil is employed in dental and pharmaceutical preparations. Historically, cinnamon drops were regarded as a tonic, a sedative in childbirth, and a remedy for many common disorders. Cinnamon served as a breath sweetener in the past. In medieval times, cinnamon was distilled to produce cordials, ostensibly to aid in digestion. In the Orient, cinnamon and its near relatives are still widely used for local remedies, particularly for gastrointestinal and respiratory disorders and as an aphrodisiac. In the Philippines and the Pacific, it is taken to relieve headache. In Colombia, cinnamon sticks are chewed to speed parturition. In Ghana, bark of young shoots are used as a carminative and to treat catarrh (coryza), and the bark extract is an intestinal astringent. In Haiti, the essence is used as a poultice for rheumatism and is taken orally for spasms and for stomach and intestinal gas. |
| Citrus maxima | Medicine: Medicinally, decoctions of the leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds have properties, which can treat coughs, fevers and gastric disorders In the Philippines and Southeast Asia. Fruit has alkanizing effect on blood, is a purgative, antibacterial and cleansing agent. The leaves are used for medicinal infusions. Decoctions of leaves, flowers and rind are given for their sedative effects in cases of epilepsy, chorea and convulsive coughing. The hot leaf decoction is administered on swellings and ulcers and fruit juice as febrifuge. The seeds are used against coughs, dyspepsia and lumbago while gum exudes remedies for cough in Brazil. The rind has pectin used in ointments/paste for burns. |
| Citrus sinensis | Medicine: Leaf decoction with salt is taken orally for digestive tract ailments, nerve disorders, fever, asthma, blood pressure, general fatigue and vomiting. Crushed leaves or fruit juice is massaged into the skin to relieve itching. Macerated root, leaf or fruit mesoderm is taken orally for urethritis; macerated fruit mesoderm or bark decoction is taken orally for liver ailments. Fruit juice or leaf decoction with sugar is taken orally for cold and loss of appetite, while crushed leaf decoction as a bath relieves headache and rheumatism. Broken bones are massaged with roasted fruit. Leaf oil exhibits carminative properties and light antispasmodic and sedative properties. |
| Coffea arabica | Medicine: Reported to be analgesic, an aphrodisiac, anorexic, antidotal, cardiotonic, CNS-stimulant, counterirritant, diuretic, hypnotic, lactagogue and nervine. Coffee is a folk remedy for asthma, tropine poisoning, fever, flu, headache, jaundice, malaria, migraine, narcosis, nephrosis, opium poisoning, sores and vertigo. |
| Cola nitida | Medicine: Cola nuts stimulate the nervous system when chewed. They counteract overstrain and depression thus improving the physical and mental state. The principle action is that of caffeine. Other active principles include theobromine and kolatine. A non-addictive stimulant used medicinally for diarrhoea and to prevent vomiting in cases of high fever. In combination with the coca-leaf a drug was made which was used as ‘Forced March’ tablets by explorers and military expeditions. The crushed nuts are boiled together with the leaves of Morinda lucida and the liquid taken internally to cure piles. The nuts ground to a fine paste together with the leaves of Scooparia dulce, are dissolved in a little water and a few drops are administered orally to babies for headache. An infusion of the bark mixed with ginger and a little pepper is taken internally to cure stomach ulcers. The nuts are also used to treat diarrhoea and dysentery. |
| Colophospermum mopane | Medicine: An extract of the bark is used as a remedy for syphilis and as an application to inflamed eyes. A deep red decoction of the bark is drunk to cure stomach pains. |
| Colubrina arborescens | Medicine: A tea made from the leaves and the wood is used as a remedy for rheumatism while the extract is used in antiseptic baths. Bark tea mixed with anise, nutmeg, mace and sugar is considered diuretic. The tea is also considered an aphrodisiac. A decoction from boiled wood, mixed with milk is used to build up blood, especially after childbirth. |
| Combretum aculeatum | Medicine: The plant has diuretic properties. Water in which the leaves have been boiled is drunk in northwest Senegal to promote micturition in cases when venereal disease obstructs the urethra. The plant is also purgative. It is prescribed for blennorrhoea, helminthiasis, and loss of appetite. It is also used in Burkina Faso and Senegal for leprosy. In Senegal, the Soce tribe claims that a root decoction has a well-established reputation in the treatment of catarrh; the Serer tribe uses sap from the centre of the stem for eye troubles. The boiled roots are taken in Kenya for stomach upsets. |
| Combretum collinum | Medicine: Roots are boiled and the decoction drunk warm as treatment for dysentery and snakebite. |
| Combretum molle | Medicine: Boiled root decoction is used to induce abortion and treat constipation, leprosy, headaches, stomach pains, fever, dysentery, general pains, swellings and as an anthelmintic for hookworm. The root and leaf together are believed to be an antidote for snake bite; leaves are chewed or pounded, soaked in water and the juice drunk for chest complaints and as an anthelmintic, or they are used as an inhalant in hot steam bath. An infusion of the inner bark is taken orally or as an enema to relieve various stomach ailments. The bark exudes a gum that can be used to treat wounds, or crushed dried or fresh leaves can be used for the same purpose. |
| Commiphora africana | Medicine: Fruits are chewed or pounded and used against toothache and diseases of the gum. |
| Commiphora edulis | Medicine: Bark infusion used to treat malaria. The roots, leaves and stem are used as remedy for stomach ache, menstrual problems and illnesses caused by spirits. |
| Commiphora myrrha | Medicine: Myrrh stimulates the production of gastric juices, tones the digestive tract and used to treat diarrhoea, flatulence, dyspepsia, loss of appetite. Stimulates the production of menstrual blood (emmenagogue). Also used to treat genital infections, leucorrhoea, thrush, scanty periods, used for haemorrhoids, arthritis has expectorant activity and is also used for flu, catarrh, bronchitis, asthma, sore throat. Stimulates the production of white blood cells regeneration of skin cells, assists in the healing of wounds. Myrrh treats eczema, wounds, wrinkles and has very good mollifying qualities. Use of myrrh imparts a cooling, calming effect, combating apathy and increasing mental clarity and focus. Myrrh is also administered as horse tincture in veterinary practice for healing wounds. Because of its anti-fungal properties it can be used as a vaginal wash for thrush or in a footbath for athlete's foot. |
| Commiphora wightii | Medicine: Gugulipid is a natural health product used primarily to reduce elevated blood cholesterol levels. It has been used for many years as a hypocholesterolemic agent in India, where it is has received prescription drug status, due to its high level of efficacy as determined by clinical trials. Some health care products from this gum include Abana (Heart Care), Diabecon (Gluco Care), Diakof (Cough Care Sfree), Koflet (Cough Care), Lukol, Pilex (Vein Care), Reosto, Rumalaya forte and Septilin (Immuno Care) |
| Copaifera langsdorfii | Medicine: The balsam is stimulant, diuretic, carminative and laxative; in large doses it is purgative, causing nausea, vomiting strangury, bloody urine, and fever. A good remedy for chronic catarrh and bronchitis, as it assists expectoration and is antiseptic; given with advantage in leucorrhoea, chronic cystitis, diarrhoea, and hemorrhoids. It is chiefly used in gonorrhea (though not advocated for chronic cases), often combined with other substances. It has also been recommended externally for chilblains. It is considered a valuable hydragogue diuretic in obstinate dropsy. The resin, not the oleoresin, is used as diuretic. This species is a folk remedy for dermatosis, eczema, and gonorrhea. In Panama, Yaviza negros mix cabismo resi with honey and give it to the newborns, to impart knowledge and ward off hexes. The gum is also used for treating venereal diseases and for massage. |
| Cordeauxia edulis | Medicine: Cordeauxiaquinone is used medicinally to stimulate hemopoensis. |
| Cordia africana | Medicine: The fresh, juicy bark is used to tie a broken bone; this splint is changed occasionally with a fresh one until the bone is healed. |
| Cordia alliodora | Medicine: A decoction of the leaves is used as a tonic and a stimulant, especially in cases of catarrh and lung infection. Pulverized seeds are used in the treatment of cutaneous diseases. |
| Cordia dichotoma | Medicine: Seeds of the species are anti-inflammatory, 2 compounds alpha-amyrin and 5-dirhamnoside have been isolated. The bark is medicinal and several chemicals have been identified; Allantoin, beta -sitosterol and 3',5-dihydroxy-4'-methoxy flavanone-7-O- alpha -L-rhamnopyranoside. The seed kernel has medicinal properties. |
| Cordia sinensis | Medicine: The roots and bark are used for stomach disorders in both children and adults. A decoction of boiled roots is used to treat malaria but can cause an abortion. Bark and roots are mixed to treat conjunctivitis in cattle. |
| Crossopteryx febrifuga | Medicine: The bark is used in African traditional medicine for the treatment of dysentery, diarrhoea and fevers. |
| Crotalaria goodiaeformis | Medicine: Root decoction administered for stomach ache and hookworms. |
| Crotalaria juncea | Medicine: The seeds are said to purify the blood and are used to treat impetigo and psoriasis. |
| Croton macrostachyus | Medicine: Boiled leaf decoction is drunk or ashes taken orally as treatment for cough; juice from fresh leaves is applied on wounds to hasten clotting. Root decoction is used as an anthelmintic for tapeworm, as a purgative, and for malaria and venereal diseases. Bark from the stems and roots is boiled in water and newly born babies are bathed in the mixture as a remedy for skin rash. |
| Croton megalocarpus | Medicine: Seed contains up to 32% oils, which have been used favourably as medicine. Bark decoction is used as a remedy for worms and whooping cough. |
| Croton sylvaticus | Medicine: The root is a remedy for indigestion whereas the bark is used for chest problems and rheumatism. Leaves made into a poultice to treat pleurisy. In Kenya tree parts are used to treat malaria. |
| Cryptomeria japonica | Medicine: Oil and/or a resin from the plant is depurative and also used in the treatment of gonorrhoea. |
| Cunninghamia lanceolata | Medicine: Traditionally, the Chinese valued this tree for its many medicinal properties. A wood decoction was used as a bath for fetid (smelly) feet. The decoction was ingested for lacquer poisoning, to help chronic ulcers, cholera, and even alleviate flatulence. An essential oil made from the stem was for bruises, pain from rheumatism, and wounds. Similarly, the ash from old bark was applied to burns, scalds, and wounds. A decoction from the cones was taken as a cough remedy |
| Cupressus torulosa | Medicine: The essential oil is used in medicine to cure inflammatory wounds, or as an antiseptic. |
| Cyphomandra betacea | Medicine: Warmed leaves are wrapped around the neck as a remedy for sore throat in Ecuador. The fruit pulp, after having been cooked in embers, is used as a poultice for inflamed tonsils in Colombia. The species was known as ‘vegetable mercury’ in Jamaica because of its presumed therapeutic value to the liver. |
| Dacryodes edulis | Medicine: A perennial cure for a variety of ailments, ranging from ear infection to fevers and oral problems. In Nigeria the resin is used for treating parasitic skin diseases and jiggers. Pulped bark is used to cicatrize wounds. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a bark decoction is used for gargle and mouthwash and for tonsillitis. It is taken in a powdered form with maleguetta pepper as an anti-dysenteric and for anaemia and for spitting blood and as an emmenagogue. With palm oil, it is applied topically to relieve general pains and stiffness and to treat cutaneous conditions. A decoction of the root bark is taken for leprosy. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the leaves are eaten raw with kola nut as an anti-emetic. Leaf sap is instilled into the ear for ear problems, and a leaf decoction is prepared as a vapour bath for feverish stiffness with headache. |
| Dactyladenia barteri | Medicine: In Nigeria and Liberia, the bark and roots are used medicinally as a purgative and against a variety of ailments. |
| Dalbergia latifolia | Medicine: Medicines are made from the tannins in the bark, for diarrhoea, worms, indigestion, and leprosy. These tannins also produce an appetizer. |
| Dalbergia melanoxylon | Medicine: The roots are used in traditional medicines to treat abdominal pain, diarrhoea and syphilis; the wood smoke is inhaled to treat headaches and bronchitis. |
| Dalbergia sissoo | Medicine: Oil obtained from the seeds is used to cure skin diseases. The powdered wood, applied externally as a paste, is reportedly used to treat leprosy and skin diseases. The roots contain tectoridin, which is used medicinally. |
| Delonix elata | Medicine: The leaf extracts are anti-inflammatory, a root decoction is drunk for abdominal pains. A pychosomatic medicinal use relating to scorpion bite treatment is reported from India. |
| Delonix regia | Medicine: Bark has medicinal properties. |
| Derris elliptica | Medicine: D. elliptica is traditionally used for antisepsis and applied to abscesses and against leprosy and itch, and sometimes as an abortifacient. In Thailand, the roots are also used as emmenagogue and the stems as a blood tonic. |
| Derris microphylla | Medicine: A poultice of roots or bark is used to treat itch in Malaysia. |
| Derris trifoliata | Medicine: D. trifoliata is used in local medicine in India as a stimulant, antispasmodic and counter-irritant, and against rheumatism, chronic paralysis and dysmenorrhoea, and in Papua New Guinea a decoction of the roots is used externally against fever and internally against sores. Thai traditional doctors use roots or stems as a laxative, carminative and anti-arthritis treatment. |
| Dialium guineense | Medicine: Bark and leaves are used against several diseases. |
| Dichrostachys cinerea | Medicine: The bark is used to treat dysentery, headaches, toothaches, elephantiasis and acts as a vermifuge. Root infusions are taken for leprosy, syphilis coughs, as an anthelmintic, purgative and strong diuretic. Pounded roots and leaves are used to treat epilepsy. The roots are chewed and placed on the sites of snakebites and scorpion stings, and the leaves, which are believed to produce a local anaesthesia, are used for the same purpose and also as a remedy for sore eyes and toothache. Leaves are taken as a diuretic and laxative, and used for gonorrhoea and boils; powder from leaves is used in the massage of fractures. The plant is used as a veterinary medicine in India. |
| Didymopanax morototoni | Medicine: The leaves have been known to serve as home remedies. |
| Dimocarpus longan | Medicine: The flesh of the fruit is administered as a stomachic, febrifuge and vermifuge, and is regarded as an antidote for poison. A decoction of the dried flesh is taken as a tonic and treatment for insomnia and neurasthenic neurosis. In both North and South Vietnam, the "eye" of the longan seed is pressed against a snakebite in the belief that it will absorb the venom. Leaves and flowers are sold in Chinese herb markets but are not a part of ancient traditional medicine. The leaves contain quercetin and quercitrin. Dried flowers are exported to Malaysia for medicinal purposes. The seeds are administered to counteract heavy sweating and the pulverized kernel, which contains saponin, tannin and fat, serves as a styptic. |
| Diospyros ebenum | Medicine: The gummy astringent fruits are used as a medicine and eaten in times of famine. |
| Diospyros kaki | Medicine: A decoction of the calyx and fruit stem is sometimes taken to relieve hiccups, coughs and labored respiration. |
| Diospyros melanoxylon | Medicine: The seeds can be intoxicating; they have been prescribed in India as a cure for mental disorders, nervous breakdowns and palpitations of the heart. The fruits have a cooling and an astringent effect. Dried flowers are reportedly useful in urinary, skin and blood diseases. The bark is astringent; its decoction is used in diarrhoea. |
| Diospyros mespiliformis | Medicine: The leaves, roots, bark and fruits contain antibiotic qualities and have many medicinal uses in West Africa. Roots and bark are used to stop purging and to enhance fertility, while the leaf decoction is used as remedy for fever, otitis and wound dressing. Bark and roots for infections such as malaria, pneumonia, syphilis, leprosy, dermatomycoses, as an anthelmintic and to facilitate child birth. Different parts used against diarrhoea, headache, toothache and as a psycho-pharmacological drug. |
| Diospyros virginiana | Medicine: The inner bark and unripe fruit are sometimes used in treatment of fevers, diarrhea, and hemorrhage and as a mouth rinse in the treatment of thrush and sore throats and as a wash for warts or cancers. A decoction of the boiled unripe fruit is used to treat bloody stools. The leaves are rich in vitamin C and are used as an antiscorbutic. |
| Dodonaea angustifolia | Medicine: The root infusion is used as a remedy for common cold in East and South Africa. The leaves have anaesthetic properties and are also chewed for their stimulating effect. Other medicinal uses are for fever, sore throats, chest complaints, influenza, stomach disorders and cancer. |
| Dracontomelon dao | Medicine: The bark is used against dysentery, leaves and flowers are also employed in traditional medicine. |
| Ekebergia capensis | Medicine: A decoction of the root is said to relieve headaches and chronic coughs; leaves provide a remedy for intestinal worms. Bark is used as an emetic and to cure dysentery. |
| Emblica officinalis | Medicine: The emblic is of great importance in Asiatic medicine, not only as an antiscorbutic, but in the treatment of diverse ailments, especially those associated with the digestive organs. For such use, the fruit juice is prepared in the form of a sherbet or is fermented. In the latter state, it is prescribed in jaundice, dyspepsia and coughs. The dried chips of flesh are dispensed by apothecaries and often are mixed with grape juice and honey for dosage. The fruit is considered diuretic and laxative. Triphala, a decoction of emblic with Terminalia chebula and T. bellerica is given for chronic dysentery, biliousness, hemorrhoids, enlarged liver and other disorders. A powder prepared from the dried fruit is an effective expectorant as it stimulates the bronchial glands. The juice that exudes when the fruit is scored while still on the tree is valued as eyewash and an application for inflamed eyes. An infusion made by steeping dried fruit overnight in water also serves as eyewash, as does an infusion of the seeds. Liquor made from the fermented fruits is prescribed as a treatment for indigestion, anaemia, jaundice, some cardiac problems, nasal congestion and retention of urine. The flowers, considered refrigerant and aperient, and roots, emetic, are also variously employed. An ointment made from the burnt seeds and oil is applied to skin afflictions. The seeds are used in treating asthma, bronchitis, diabetes and fevers. They contain proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes, phosphatides and a small amount of essential oil. Approximately 16% consist of a brownish-yellow fixed oil. |
| Endospermum malaccense | Medicine: The bark is used to treat dropsy and the roots help to heal injuries. |
| Entada abyssinica | Medicine: The plant is used in the treatment of miscarriage, and the leaf for fever. A decoction of the bark is taken for coughs, chronic bronchial engorgement, rheumatic pains and abdominal pain. An infusion of crushed roots is good for bronchial problems. A root or leaf decoction is used as a fever remedy; powdered or roasted pulverized seeds for sneezing; root bark as a massage for swelling; and the raw fruit induces vomiting as an antidote to snake venom. The seeds treat cataracts and diseases of the back of the eye. |
| Entada africana | Medicine: The bark is said to have abortive effects while a root decoction is a stimulating agent and tonic. The plant is said to have antidote effects against various toxic agents because of its emetic properties. Healing and fever-reducing beverages are prepared from leaves, bark, roots and shoots. In northern Nigeria and northern Ghana, an infusion of the leaves, or of the bark is taken as a tonic and for stomachache. The leaves also constitute a good wound dressing, preventing suppuration. |
| Entandrophragma utile | Medicine: The bark of this tree is used in Cameroon to treat malaria and bark extracts have displayed fungicidal activity against Pyricularia oryzae. This plant is traditionally used in Nigerian medicine, and is claimed to achieve complete healing of peptic ulcers in humans. Tests in mice and rats supported these claims at least in part. |
| Enterolobium cyclocarpum | Medicine: Bark extracts are used medicinally against colds and bronchitis. |
| Eriobotrya japonica | Medicine: The fruits are considered a sedative and are used in allaying vomiting and thirst. The tanniferous leaves are astringent and antidiarrhoetic, and in China are used to treat wounds. The flowers are used as an expectorant and, extracted in oil, in cosmetics. |
| Erythrina abyssinica | Medicine: Pounded parts are used in a steam form in Kenya to treat diseases such as anthrax, and the bark is boiled with goat meat for treating gonorrhoea. The bark of the green stem may also be pounded and then tied into a fine piece of cloth and the liquid from it squeezed into the eyes to cure inflammation of the lids. The bark may be roasted until black, powdered, and applied to burns and general body swellings. A decoction is taken orally as an anthelmintic and to relive abdominal pains. The roots are used to treat syphilis, and the leaves to cure skin diseases in cattle. |
| Erythrina berteroana | Medicine: Stem bark contains a prenylated flavonone which has anti-fungal activity against Cladosporium cucumerinum. Flower extract is used as a sedative, for treating nervousness, hemorrhages and dysentery. Leaves and flowers have a soporific effect and are used to induce deep, relaxing sleep. Reported to be narcotic, piscicidal and soporific, coral bean is a folk remedy for dysmenorrhea and other female ailments. |
| Erythrina edulis | Medicine: In Colombia, a soap made from the bark, branches and leaves of E. edulis is used to wash dogs with skin disease. In Peru, the seed is mixed in a liquid concoction to treat inflammation of the bladder. The flowers are used to treat eye irritations. |
| Erythrina fusca | Medicine: The bark is used as a poultice on fresh wounds, and bark or root decoctions against beriberi. |
| Erythrina indica | Medicine: the bark decoction is used in stomach disorders, anti-abortion treatment, malarial fever and liver problems |
| Erythrina variegata | Medicine: The leaves and bark are widely used as cures in many South-East Asian countries. The bark is used as an antipyretic in Burma (Myanmar), in decoction to treat liver problems in China and intermittent fever in Indonesia. A decoction of the bark and leaves is used to treat dysentery in Indonesia; sweetened, it is considered a good expectorant. A decoction of the leaves may also be used to treat mastitis. The bark has also been used to treat rheumatism and to relieve asthma and coughs. The roots and leaves are often employed to alleviate fever in the Philippines. Crushed seeds are used to treat cancer and abscesses in Indo-China, and are boiled in a little water as a remedy for snake bites in Malaysia. In India, the root and bark are called 'paribhadra', one of the reputed drugs of Ayurvedic medicine. |
| Eucalyptus camaldulensis | Medicine: The oils are used as an inhalant with steam and other preparations for relief of colds and influenza symptoms. Because of its refreshing odour and its efficiency in killing bacteria, the oil is also used as an antiseptic. |
| Eucalyptus citriodora | Medicine: The oils are used with steam and other preparations as an inhalant to relieve colds and influenza symptoms. Because of the refreshing odour of the oil and its efficiency in killing bacteria, it also finds application as antiseptic. |
| Eucalyptus globulus ssp. globulus | Medicine: The oils are used as an inhalant with steam and other preparations for relief of colds and influenza symptoms. Because of the refreshing odour of the oil and its efficiency in killing bacteria, it is also an antiseptic. It helps to treat lung infections, gastrointestinal ulcers and angina. |
| Eucalyptus maculata | Medicinal: The fruits of E. maculata show diuretic activity, a flavonoid derivative, naringenin has been isolated. The bark is astrigent, 5,7-dihydroxy 4'-methoxy flavanone (isosakuranetin) and leucopelargonidin-3-O- alpha -L-rhamno- beta -D-glucopyranoside have been isolated from the stem bark. The presence of leucoanthocyanin in the bark is probably responsible for its astringency. |
| Eucalyptus robusta | Medicine: E. robusta is reported to have significant antimalarial activity. |
| Euclea divinorum | Medicine: E. divinorum branches are used as chewing sticks for oral care. The fruits are said to be strongly purgative. In Kenya the root decoction is used as a purgative and the bark infusion as an appetizer. Decoctions of the root are used by the Zulu for toothache. |
| Eugenia dombeyi | Medicine: An infusion of 10 g of leaves or bark in 300 ml water is used as an aromatic, astringent diuretic and as a treatment for rheumatism in Brazil. |
| Euonymus japonicus | Medicine: The bark is considered to be tonic, an anti-rheumatic, an anhidoritic and a diuretic. Chinese women use the leaves to aid difficult delivery. Amerindians use the occidental vicariads in gynaecological applications. |
| Euphorbia tirucalli | Medicine: The young branches can be roasted then chewed for sore throat. The boiled root juice acts as an emetic in cases of snake bite, and also for sterility in women. Caution should be observed in making medicinal preparations of this plant due to its high toxicity. Poultices from the stem are applied to heal broken bones. In Peninsular Malaysia, a poultice of the roots or stems has been applied to ulceration of the nose, haemarrhoids and swellings. Root scrapings, mixed with coconut oil, are given to cure stomach-ache. |
| Fagraea racemosa | Medicine: A decoction of leaves, bark, roots and flowers is used for medicinal purposes, mainly as a tonic after fever and for pains in the loins, but in the Philippines also as an antidote against snake bites. Wood-tar is used to blacken teeth. |
| Faidherbia albida | Medicine: The use of bark and roots either externally or internally against respiratory infections, digestive disorders, malaria and other fevers is widespread. The bark is used to clean teeth, as it is believed to contain fluorine; an extract is used for toothache in humans and eye infections in livestock. |
| Faurea saligna | Medicine: The bark is boiled in broth and taken as a tonic, while roots are boiled and the liquid drunk as a remedy for diarrhoea and indigestion. |
| Feronia limonia | Medicine: The fruit is used in India as a liver and cardiac tonic, and when unripe, as an astringent means of halting diarrhoea and dysentery and effective treatment for hiccough, sore throat and diseases of the gums. The pulp is poulticed onto bites and stings of venomous insects, as is the powdered rind. Juice of young leaves is mixed with milk and sugar candy and given as a remedy for biliousness and intestinal troubles of children. The powdered gum, mixed with honey, is given to overcome dysentery and diarrhea in children. Oil derived from the crushed leaves is applied on itch and the leaf decoction is given to children as an aid to digestion. Leaves, bark, roots and fruit pulp are all used against snakebite. The spines are crushed with those of other trees and an infusion taken as a remedy for menorrhagia. The bark is chewed with that of Barringtonia and applied on venomous wounds. |
| Ficus religiosa | Medicine: The ripe fruit is cooling and relieves foul taste, thirst, biliousness, diseases of blood and heart; it is a laxative and helps digestion. It is used for medicinal purposes, such as toothaches. Dried fruit cure asthma; seeds are useful in urinary discharge; young bark is an astringent. |
| Ficus sycomorus | Medicine: The bark is used for the treatment of scrofula, coughs, and throat and chest diseases. The milky latex is used for treatment of dysentery and chest diseases, or is applied to inflamed areas, while ringworm is treated with the bark and milky latex. Leaves are said to be effective against jaundice and as an antidote for snakebite, while the roots have laxative and anthelmintic properties. |
| Ficus thonningii | Medicine: The bark is important in local medicine, and it is used in treating colds, sore throat, dysentery, wounds, constipation, nosebleed and to stimulate lactation. Latex is used for wound fever, while an infusion of the root and fibre is taken orally to help prevent abortion. Powdered root is taken in porridge to stop nosebleed; the milky latex is dropped into the eye to treat cataracts. |
| Flacourtia indica | Medicine: The leaf is carminative, astringent and used as a tonic, an expectorant and for asthma, pain relief, gynaecological complaints and as an antihelmintic, and treatment for hydrocele, pneumonia and intestinal worms. The Lobedu tribe of southern Africa take a decoction of the root for the relief of body pains. In India, an infusion of the bark is used as a gargle for hoarseness. In Madagascar, the bark, triturated in oil, is used as an anti-rheumatic liniment. The root and ash have been used as a remedy for kidney complaints. |
| Flemingia macrophylla | Medicine: In Indonesia and Malaysia, the leaves are used medicinally. In China, a decoction is used to bathe sores and swellings, while in Taiwan it is an antipyretic for treating postpartum fever and is used to treat paralysis and pain in the joints. |
| Fraxinus excelsior | Medicine: The seeds have long been considered an aphrodisiac. A bark decoction served to control kidney function and as a febrifuge and diuretic. The leaves were used for their cathartic properties. Other medicinal uses of the ash are for vomit induction, peritonitis, as a substitute for cinchona bark, constipation, arthritis, adder bite, intestinal worms, insect bites, malaria, nervous disease, diabetes, syphilis, healing wounds, tuberculosis and dropsy. |
| Funtumia africana | Medicine: In Africa this species is used to treat urinary incontinence and burns. The leaf and bark are used as enema. The principle alkaloids of F. africana, funtumine and funtumidine are hypotensive. |
| Garcinia gummi-gutta | Medicine: A decoction made from it is given for rheumatism and bowel complaints. In cattle, it is used as a wash for mouth diseases. An extract obtained from the mature fruit rind, Hydroxy Citric Acid, is used against obesity. |
| Garcinia hanburyi | Medicine: Gamboge is a drastic purgative, an emetic, and a vermifuge for treating tape worm, but it is no longer used in human medicine. Sometimes it is given to cows as purgative. |
| Garcinia livingstonei | Medicine: Extracts from flowers and leaves have antibiotic properties. Infusion made from roots used to treat abdominal pains during pregnancy and after giving birth. Fruit used to treat mumps. |
| Garcinia mangostana | Medicine: The sliced and dried rind is powdered and administered to overcome dysentery. Made into an ointment, it is applied on eczema and other skin disorders. The rind decoction is taken to relieve diarrhoea and cystitis, gonorrhoea and gleet and is applied externally as an astringent lotion. A portion of the rind is steeped in water overnight and the infusion given as a remedy for chronic diarrhoea in adults and children. Filipinos employ a decoction of the leaves and bark as a febrifuge and to treat thrush, diarrhoea, dysentery and urinary disorders. In Malaysia, an infusion of the leaves, combined with unripe banana and a little benzoin is applied to the circumcision wound. A root decoction is taken to regulate menstruation. A bark extract called "amibiasine", has been marketed for the treatment of amoebic dysentery. |
| Garcinia quaesita | Medicine: The fruit rind and extracts of Garcinia are used in traditional medicinal recipes especially in the Ayurvedic system. Leaves are astringent and anti-pyretic. A decoction of the fruit rind is taken for rheumatism and bowel complaints. It is used as a decoction for washing ulcers and a gargle in weak and spongy gums. Internally, it acts as a stomachic and is used in anorexia and chronic dyspepsia. In veterinary medicine, it has been used as a rinse for diseases of the mouth in cattle |
| Genipa americana | Medicine: In El Salvador, the fruit is eaten as a remedy for jaundice and when eaten in large quantities, acts as a vermifuge. The fruit juice is given as a diuretic while the fruit infusion as a cold remedy. The crushed green fruit and the bark decoction are applied on venereal sores and pharyngitis. The root decoction is a strong purgative. The bark exudes a whitish, sweetish gum when cut. This is diluted and used as an eyewash and is claimed to alleviate corneal opacities. The flower decoction and juice from the leaves is commonly given as a tonic and febrifuge. The pulverized seeds are emetic and caustic. The identification of 2 antibiotic cyclopentoid monoterpenes, primarily genipic acid and secondarily genipinic acid, its carbomethoxyl derivative, has been isolated from all parts of the fruit in Puerto Rico. |
| Ginkgo biloba | Medicine: In Traditional Chinese Medicine the seeds (used as an astringent for the lung, to stop asthma, enuresis, and excessive leucorrhea and regulate urinary frequency) are considered more important than the leaves. However, in the west ginkgo leaves are exalted. The leaves of ginkgo, known in Chinese medicine as bai-guo-ye are first mentioned in Lan Mao's Dian Nan Ben Cao (Pharmaceutical Natural History of Southern Yunnan), published in 1436 during the Ming dynasty, are used externally to treat skin and head sores as well as freckles. Internal use of the leaves is noted in an imperial commissioned work recorded in 1505 for the treatment of diarrhoea. Over 300 scientific studies on the chemistry, pharmacology and clinical effects of gingko leaf have been conducted by European researchers over the last 20-30 years. The experimental results indicate ginkgo leaf extracts have a wide range of biological effects. The most well-known use among Americans is the perceived ability of the products to improve short term memory. Ginkgo extracts have been widely used in Europe for a wide variety of clinical conditions including vertigo, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), treatment of poor circulation, heart disease, eye diseases, chronic cerebral insufficiency, accidents involving brain trauma, dementia, and various conditions associated with senility. Studies have shown that the constituents ginkgoic acid and ginnol inhibit certain bacteria and fungal infections. New uses for ginkgo leaf extracts are emerging as more is being learned, especially those involving circulatory problems such as erectile dysfunction and improved memory, blood circulation. Also marketed as Shun Tian capsules, containing gingko leaves and ginseng. |
| Gleditsia triacanthos | Medicine: In Lesotho, fruit pulp is used for lung diseases. Powdered seed is used as snuff for head colds. Reported to be anodyne, mydriatic, narcotic, and experimentally oxytocic, G. triacanthos pods are a folk remedy for dyspepsia and measles, colds and fevers among the Indians of the USA; Delaware Indians used the bark for blood disorders and coughs. The bark tea treats whooping cough. |
| Gliricidia sepium | Medicine: Crude extracts have been shown to have antifungal activity. Reported to be expectorant, sedative and suppurative. Madre de cacao is a folk remedy for alopecia, boils, bruises, burns, colds, cough, debility, eruptions, erysipelas, fever, fractures, gangrene, headache, itch, prickly heat, rheumatism, skin tumours, ulcers, urticaria and wounds. |
| Gmelina arborea | Medicine: Bark, leaves and roots contain traces of alkaloids and are used medicinally in its native range, such as in Hindu medicine. For example, both fruit and bark have medicinal properties against bilious fever. |
| Gnetum africanum | Medicine: The leaves are used to treat enlarged spleen, sore throat and also used as a cathartic. The plant provides an arrow poison antidote. In West Africa chopped leaves are used as a dressing on furuncles to hasten maturation. The stem is used in making preparations to ease childbirth. |
| Gnetum gnemon | Medicine: Leaf sap used medicinally to cure an eye complication. |
| Gonystylus bancanus | Medicine: A decoction of the roots is administered after childbirth as a protective medicine. |
| Grewia asiatica | Medicine: According to Ayurveda, the ancient Indian treatise on medicine, the fruits are a cooling tonic and aphrodisiac; they allay thirst and burning sensations, remove biliousness, cure inflammation, heart and blood disorders and fevers. The fruit is also good against throat trouble. The bark is used as a demulcent. It cures urinary troubles and relieves burning in the vagina. The leaves also are used medicinally, chiefly for external applications. |
| Grewia bicolor | Medicine: Leaves are used as an arbortifacient in Burkina Faso. Roots and leaves help in the treatment of pain in the intercostal area. Roots part of a remedy for chest complaints and colds, for gonorrhoea and female fertility, in poultice form they treat pustulous skin lesions, and they can be taken as tranquilizers. A decoction of roots is given on indication of delayed afterbirth to expel the placenta in humans, and sometimes cattle. Fruit taken for strength; wood said to be anthelmintic and bark used for boils and sores, inflammation of the intestines, syphilis, and as a vermifuge, diuretic and laxative. A decoction of the fruits makes an esteemed drink, a remedy for ‘igandi’ a deficiency disease. |
| Grewia tenax | Medicine: In Kenya plant parts are used as a remedy for colds and chest complaints and also as a chief constituent in a typhoid remedy. |
| Grewia villosa | Medicine: Many medicinal uses are reported. In Kenya, the bark (powdered or fresh), is used to treat wounds, and elsewhere various parts of the tree are used in the treatment of syphilis, spleen trouble, eye-ache and stomach-ache. |
| Guaiacum officinale | Medicine: Apothecaries use shavings and raspings of the wood for medicinal purposes, in the same way the bark is employed for medicine. Resin is applied to the tooth for a toothache, and applied externally for rheumatism. For gout, blood pressure and arteriosclerosis resin is taken orally. |
| Guazuma ulmifolia | Medicine: An infusion of crushed seed soaked in water is used to treat diarrhoea, dysentery, colds, coughs and venereal diseases. It is also used as a diuretic and astringent. |
| Haematoxylum campechianum | Medicine: Medicinally it is a mild astringent and tonic, it is prescribed in the form of a decoction and liquid extract. It is also useful against diarrhoea, dysentery, atonic dyspepsia and leucorrhoea. An ointment prepared from the wood is said to be useful against cancer and hospital gangrene. Haematoxylin has been shown to possess anti-flammatory properties. |
| Hagenia abyssinica | Medicine: The roots are cooked with meat and the soup drunk for general illness and malaria, while the dried and pounded female inflorescence is used as an anthelmintic (especially for tapeworm). Bark may be pounded, added to cold water and the liquid drunk as a remedy for diarrhoea and stomach-ache. Generally, this is a strong medicine that must not be taken in large quantities; it is sometimes taken as an abortifacient. |
| Harungana madagascariensis | Medicine: Sap is used in the treatment of scabies and as an anthelmintic (tapeworms), while leaves are used as a remedy for hemorrhages, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, sore throats, headaches and fevers. Resin from the flower stalks is believed to ease colic and to check infection after childbirth, while a decoction of the bark is drunk as a remedy for malaria or jaundice. Roots are used to hasten breast development in young women while roots and bark are boiled in water, and the infusion drunk twice a day, to interrupt the menses. Young leaves are sometimes used a medicine for asthma and fruits are occasionally used in cases of abortion in the belief that the red juice averts bleeding. |
| Hibiscus sabdariffa | Medicine: The roselle is useful in arteriosclerosis. Reported to be antiseptic, aphrodisiac, astringent, cholagogue, demulcent, digestive, diuretic, emollient, purgative, refrigerant, resolvent, sedative, stomachic, and tonic, roselle is a folk remedy for abscesses, bilious conditions, cancer, cough, debility, dyspepsia, dysuria, fever, hangover, heart ailments, hypertension, neurosis, scurvy, and strangury. The drink made by placing the calyx in water, is said to be a folk remedy for cancer. Medicinally, leaves are emollient, and are much used in Guinea as a diuretic, refrigerant and sedative; fruits are antiscorbutic; leaves, seeds, and ripe calyces are antiscorbutic. In Myanmar, the seeds are used for debility and the leaves as emollient. Taiwanese regard the seed as diuretic, laxative and tonic. In Philippines the bitter root is used as an aperitive and tonic. Angolans use the mucilaginous leaves as an emollient and as a soothing cough remedy. Central Africans poultice the leaves on abscesses. Ingestion of the plant extract reportedly decreases the rate of absorption of alcohol. |
| Hippophae rhamnoides | Medicine: The plant is considered a general panacea and extensive use is made of its roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seed. Oil from the fruit acts as an antioxidant and may thus be used to treat wounds, frost bite and pathological problems of the alimentary mucous membranes. Serotonin (5-hydroxy-tryptamine) extracted from sea buckthorn possesses antitumor capabilities. |
| Holarrhena floribunda | Medicine: Stem bark of H. floribunda is used in traditional medicine to treat malaria, dysentery, fever, female sterility, skin infections venereal diseases and snake bites. In Nigeria, convulsion, especially in children, is managed by traditional healers employing leaf extracts of H. floribunda. Fractions containing saponins, polar steroidal glycosides, steroidal glycosides and alkaloids exhibited some antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and antifungal activity against Candida albicans. The saponin fraction markedly inhibited growth of Aspergillus niger. Conessine, an alkaloid from stem and root bark of H. floribunda, has been used as an amoebicide antidysenteric and febrifuge. |
| Hopea odorata | Medicine: The dammar is applied on sores and wounds. In Indo-China, the bark is used as a masticatory. |
| Hyeronima alchorneoides | Medicine: The seeds of H. alchorneoides contain oil that is effective against intestinal parasites (anti-helminthic). In Guyana, a decoction of the bark is used for its anti-tussive properties. |
| Hymenaea courbaril | Medicine: The bark is common in local folk medicine as a cure-all, being especially useful for coughs. Besides being used to give energy and stamina, jatobá tea has been used for centuries as a tonic for the respiratory and urinary systems by the indigenous people of the Amazon Basin. Jatobá is known for its ability to fight fungus and yeast such as Candida albicans. Macerated bark is used for diarrhoea. The bark, sap or resin, and leaves are used medicinally for cystitis, hepatitis, prostatitis and cough. The sap is used for coughs and bronchitis, and a bark tea is used for stomach problems as well as athlete’s foot and foot fungus. In Brazilian herbal medicine today, jatobá bark and resin are still recommended for the same indications and problems as they have been since the 1930s, documented to be tonic, stomachic, astringent, balsamic, vermifuge, and haemostatic. The fruit is used to treat mouth ulcers, and the leaves and wood are used for diabetes. |
| Hymenocardia acida | Medicine: Tannins from H. acida stem bark are used to treat diarrhoea and dysentery and show good activity. In Zambia the bark is used in concoctions as remedy for an unspecified disease condition, in east Africa the plant is used in treating wounds. Root bark extracts exhibited cytotoxicity against the 60 human cell lines of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). H. acida extracts demonstrated a marked antibacterial activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae. |
| Hyphaene thebaica | Medicine: Roots are used in the treatment of bilharzia, while fruit pulp is chewed to control hypertension. Sore eyes in livestock are treated using charcoal from the seed kernel. |
| Ilex mitis | Medicine: small pieces of bark are chewed as purgative and also used in the preparation of enema for treating colic in children. Sotho witchdoctors in southern Africa include the plant in their divine dice to protect sick people from being bewitched. |
| Illicium verum | Medicine: The oil of star anise is used worldwide in medicine. It is used as stimulant, eupeptic, carminative, mildly expectorant and diuretic. It is found to be useful in flatulence, spasmodic pains and dysentery. It relieves colic and is a common ingredient of cough lozenges and cattle sprays. The oil is employed as an applicant in rheumatism, as an antiseptic, useful against fevers, scabies, body lice, bedbugs, and highly useful in constipation and insomnia. |
| Indigofera arrecta | Medicine: The leaves are used in traditional medicines for epilepsy and nervous disorders and to heal sores and ulcers. |
| Inga vera | Medicine: Macerated bark is taken orally for anaemia, a root decoction for gallstones, and fruit pulp for constipation. Reported to be astringent and diuretic. |
| Intsia bijuga | Medicine: The bark is used in treating persons suffering from a urinary condition (characterised by very dark urine). U’ula is also used in the treatment of rheumatism, dysentery and diarrhoea. An infusion of ipil bark is given to women after delivery. |
| Irvingia gabonensis | Medicine: Relieves diarrhoea and dysentery. Used internally as a purgative, for gastrointestinal and liver conditions, for sterility, hernias and urethral discharge, and is considered to be a powerful aphrodisiac. |
| Irvingia wombolu | Medicine: The fresh bark of the tree is considered to be a powerful antibiotic against scabies, a cure for diarrhoea when mixed with palm oil and a toothache remedy. |
| Jacaranda mimosifolia | Medicine: Bark and roots are used for syphilis. Leaves also used as a vulnerary. |
| Jatropha curcas | Medicine: Seeds were formerly exported from the Cape Verde Islands to Portugal and the ‘curcas’, or purging oil, from them is a drastic purgative. They resemble groundnuts in flavour, and 15-20 seeds will cause griping, purging and vomiting for 30 minutes. It is reported from Gabon that 1-2 roasted seeds are sufficient to act as a purgative; larger doses may be dangerous. The seeds have been substituted for castor oil and are sometimes called ‘larger castor oil’. The oil is widely used for skin diseases and to soothe pain such as that caused by rheumatism; it is an ingredient in the oily extract, known in Hausa as ‘kufi’, which is a rubifacient for rheumatism and for parasitic skin conditions. The oil is used to stimulate hair growth. The seeds are also used in the treatment of syphilis. Juice or latex is applied directly to wounds and cuts as a styptic and astringent to clean teeth, gums, and to treat sores on the tongue and in the mouth. Branches are used as a chewing stick in Nigeria. Latex has antibiotic properties against Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogens. It also has coagulating effects on blood plasma. A methanol extract of physic nut leaves afforded moderate protection for cultured human lymphoblastoid cells against the cytopathic effects of the human immunodeficiency virus. Preparations of the plant, including seeds, leaves and bark, fresh or as a decoction, are used in traditional medicine and for veterinary purposes. A leaf infusion is used as a diuretic, for bathing, to treat coughs, and as an enema in treating convulsions and fits. Leaves are also used to treat jaundice, fevers, rheumatic pains, guinea worm sores and poor development of the fetus in pregnant women. The leaves produce a sap that has haemostatic properties; it is used to dress wounds. In Ghana the ashes from the burnt leaves are applied by rectal injection for haemorrhoids. The root bark is used to relieve the spasms of infantile tetanus and is used for sores, dysentery and jaundice. The juice of the flowers has numerous medicinal qualities. |
| Juniperus procera | Medicine: The bark and leaves are used for medicinal purposes. |
| Khaya ivorensis | Medicine: Bitter bark used for coughs and whooping cough. When mixed with black peppercorns, used to treat diarrhoea and dysentery. A bark decoction is used as a drink or bath for back pains and as a lotion for rheumatism. |
| Khaya nyasica | Medicine: Bark infusions containing a bitter substance are drunk to treat colds and oil from the seeds is rubbed into the hair to kill lice. |
| Khaya senegalensis | Medicine: The very bitter bark has a considerable reputation in its natural range as a fever remedy. The bark is also used as a vermifuge, taenicide, depurative and for treating syphilis. Bark extract is used for treating jaundice, dermatoses, scorpion bite, allergies, infection of the gums, hookworm, bleeding wounds (disinfectant), and as a laxative. Seeds and leaves are used for treating fever, headache; roots against sterility, for the treatment of mental illness, against syphilis, leprosy and as an aphrodisiac. Crushed bark and seeds are regarded as emmenagogue. Bark also used in traditional veterinary practice, for example for cattle suffering from liver fluke, for ulcers in camels, donkeys and horses, and in horses for internal ailments associated with mucous diarrhoea. |
| Kigelia pinnata | Medicine: Bark and leaves are used for bladder trouble/kidney disease, an enema or drink of the boiled root and stem bark for piles; wounds, sores and cuts are treated with a leaf and bark decoction or bark; bark and leaf decoctions are antidotes for snakebite. The unripe fruits are said to be poisonous but are taken as a remedy for syphilis and rheumatism, and boiled fruit is massaged into the body for lumbago. In South Africa, the fruits are used as a dressing for ulcers or to increase the flow of milk in lactating women. In northern Nigeria, the fruit is used in some districts as a purgative, and in others to treat dysentery. The leaf alone, or with other ingredients, is useful for diarrhoea and dysentery. The fruits and bark, ground and boiled in water, are taken either orally or as an enema in treating children’s stomach ailments. The fruits and roots of K. africana are boiled along with the stem and tassels of a plantain for postpartum haemorrhage. Decoctions of the stem bark are used for spleen infection, gonorrhoea and syphilis. A cream made from fruit extract is used to remove sunspots known as ‘solar keratosis’, particularly on the face and hands. |
| Lagerstroemia speciosa | Medicine: A decoction of the bark is used against diarrhoea and abdominal pains. A leaf poultice is used to relief malarial fever and is applied on cracked feet. A preparation from dried leaves, known as banaba, is widely used in the Philippines to treat diabetes and urinary problems. |
| Lansium domesticum | Medicine: The resin is non-toxic and administered to halt diarrhoea and intestinal spasms. The pulverized seed is employed as a febrifuge and vermifuge. The bark is poulticed on scorpion stings. An astringent bark decoction is taken as a treatment for dysentery and malaria. Leaves may be combined with the bark in preparing the decoction. The leaf juice is used as eye-drops to dispel inflammation. |
| Lawsonia inermis | Medicine: Roots are regarded as a potent medicine for gonorrhoea and to enhance fertility in women; a decoction of them is considered to be diuretic or for treating blenorrhoea and pectoral for bronchitis. A reported constituent of the leaves is an oxynaphthoquinone called lawsone, which has antibiotic properties. Flower oil contains alpha- and beta-ionone, the latter being the main component. Leaf and flower infusions are applied externally for ulcers and rheumatism or are taken orally for tetanus, epilepsy and stomach pains; leaves are used in treatment of leprosy, jaundice and scurvy. Astringent roots are ground and rubbed on the heads of children to treat boils and eye diseases. In Malaysia, fresh bruised leaves are used as poultices to relieve a burning sensation of the feet; to treat beriberi, skin diseases, boils, circumcision wounds and distension of the stomach; a decoction can also be gargled to treat gum boils, or prescribed to relieve abdominal pains after childbirth. It is an emmenagogue and an abortifacient. In Indonesia, a paste of the leaves is applied for diseases of the fingernails and for herpes infection; tea made from the leaves is said to be taken to prevent obesity, and an ointment made from very young fruits treats itches. In the Philippines, flowers are reported to be soporific. |
| Liquidambar styraciflua | Medicine: A balsamic exudate obtained from the sap of trees is used in the pharmaceutical industry. |
| Litchi chinensis | Medicine: The fruit, its peel and the seed are used in traditional medicine; decoctions of the root, bark and flowers are used as a gargle. Seeds are used as an anodyne in neuralgic disorders and orchitis. |
| Litsea monopetala | Medicine: Seeds contain an oil which is used medicinally as ointments for rheumatism manufacturing candle in India . Bark is used as astringent and in diarrhoea. |
| Macaranga kilimandscharica | Medicine: Root extracts are drunk for bilharzia treatment, the root decoction is drunk as a cough remedy and the leaf decoction for stomach ailments. |
| Maesopsis eminii | Medicine: A strong purgative and diuretic can be made by soaking the bark in cold water. The root bark is beaten with clay and used to treat gonorrhoea. |
| Mallotus philippensis | Medicine: In pharmacy kamala is used as anthelmintic and an extract of kamala in hexachlorethane may be useful in treating liver fluke in cattle. Kamala is also known to affect the fertility of animal and man. All parts of the tree can be applied externally to treat parasitic infections of the skin. The fruits and bark have been reported to be used medicinally to treat stomach ulcers and tapeworm. |
| Malpighia glabra | Medicine: The fruits are considered beneficial against liver problems, diarrhoea, dysentery, coughs and colds. |
| Mammea africana | Medicine: The resinous sap, or a lotion made from its roots, is used in West Africa for any pruriginous skin disease (craw-craw) and parasitic skin diseases. The bark shavings are used as rubbings for skin eruptions and for itch in dogs; a bark decoction is used for rheumatic pains and to clear ulcers; and a thick paste of pulped fruits, mixed with root and bark infusion, is painted on itch and other skin afflictions and allowed to dry. |
| Mammea americana | Medicine: Uses of mamey in folk medicine include treatment of scalp infections, diarrhoea, digestive and eye problems. In Venezuela, powdered seeds are employed in the treatment of parasitic skin diseases. In Brazil, the ground seeds, minus the embryo which is considered convulsant, infusion is employed as an anthelmintic for adults only. In the French West Indies, an aromatic liqueur called Eau de Creole or Creme de Creole, is distilled from the flowers and said to act as a tonic or digestive. An infusion of the fresh or dry leaves is given in cases of intermittent fever. |
| Mangifera foetida | Medicine: The leaves are said to be antipyretic and the seeds used against trichophytosis, scabies and eczema. |
| Mangifera indica | Medicine: Charred and pulverized leaves make a plaster to remove warts and also act as a styptic. Seeds are used to treat stubborn colds and coughs, obstinate diarrhoea and bleeding piles. The bark is astringent, homeostatic and antirheumatic. |
| Mangifera odorata | Medicine: In folk medicine, the bark is recommended for external application in hystero-epilepsy, in the form of a compound like a cosmetic mixture. |
| Manihot glaziovii | Medicine: The stem and root enter into a Nigerian remedy for skin infections. |
| Manilkara zapota | Medicine: A leaf decoction is taken for fever, haemorrhage, wounds and ulcers; for neuralgia, leaf with tallow is applied as a compress on the temples. Seeds are antipyretic, and when ground with water they act as a diuretic. The plant is a source of sapotin, a glucoside used in medicine as a febrifuge. In Indonesia, the flowers are used as one of the ingredients of a powder that is rubbed on the body of a woman after childbirth. In Cambodia, tannin from the bark is used to cure diarrhoea and fever. |
| Markhamia lutea | Medicine: Leaves are known to have medicinal value. |
| Melaleuca alternifolia | Medicine: This oil is mainly used for medicinal and veterinary purposes as a popular antiseptic because of its ability to penetrate unbroken skin. |
| Melia azedarach | Medicine: M. azedarach is well known for its medicinal uses. Its various parts have antihelmintic, antimalarial, cathartic, emetic and emmenagogic properties and are also used to treat skin diseases. Dried ripe fruit is used as an external parasiticide; some toxic components are found in the seed oil, the oral intake of which may cause severe reactions and even death. |
| Mesua ferrea | Medicine: In Malaysia and India, a mixture of pounded kernels and seed oil is used for poulticing wounds. The seed-oil is used for treating itch and other skin eruptions, dandruff and against rheumatism. In Java, a decoction of the flowers is drunk by women after childbirth. Qurs-e-Habis is a traditional medicine consisting of the seeds of Wrightia tinctoria, the stamens of M. ferrea, and the shells of pearl oysters (Pinctada margaritifera). Qurs-e-Habis is used as a haemostatic, antidysenteric and antidiarrhoetic. The medicinal properties of the constituents of Qurs-e-Habis, particularly styptic and astringent properties are related to its haemostatic effects. Flowers of M. ferrea exhibit antibacterial activity. |
| Michelia champaca | Medicine: A decoction of the bark and leaves is given after childbirth; the bark is used as a febrifuge. In Myanmar the flowers are used to treat leprosy and leaves used against colic. |
| Millettia thonningii | Medicine: Root and bark decoctions are used for worms expulsion and as laxative, while the boiled pulverized roots and the bark are used for blood purification. Leaf extract is used for diarrhoea or dysentery and a decoction of the bark is purgative. |
| Mimosa pigra | Medicine: M. pigra is used in tropical Africa as a tonic and for diarrhoea, gonorrhoea and blood poisoning. In Tanzania, the powdered leaf is taken with water to relieve swelling. In Zambia, the root ash is sprinkled over leprous patches on the skin. The root is apparently aphrodisiac to some persons and calming to others. The seed is emetic and an expectorant and is used for tooth troubles. The leaf is said to contain mimosine; it is purgative and perhaps tonic. |
| Morinda citrifolia | Medicine: Nowadays, single trees are encouranged or cultivated in gardens mainly for medicinal purposes. Most parts of the tree have been widely used medicinally since ancient times. In Vietnam roots serve to treat stiffness and tetanus and have been proven to combat arterial tension. Elsewhere they are used as febrifuge, tonic and antiseptic. The fruits are used as a diuretic, a laxative, an emollient and as an emmenagogue, for asthma and other respiratory problems, as a treatment for arthritic and comparable inflammations, in cases of leucorrhoea and sapraemia and for maladies of inner organs. Roots, leaves and fruits may have anthelmintic properties. In traditional medicine the parts used are administered raw or as juices and infusions or in ointments and poultices. The curative properties of the plant parts are ascribed to the presence of medicinally active anthraquinone derivates. The fruit contains rancid smelling capric acid and unpleasant tasting caprylic acid. It is thought that antibiotically active compounds are present. |
| Moringa oleifera | Medicine: Moringa seeds are effective against skin-infecting bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. They contain the potent antibiotic and fungicide terygospermin. The alkaloid spirachin (a nerve paralysant) has been found in the roots. Even when free of bark, the condiment in excess may be harmful. A decoction of the flowers is used as a cold remedy. The gum is diuretic, astringent and abortifacient and is used against asthma. Oil of Ben is used for hysteria, scurvy, prostate problems and bladder troubles. The roots and bark are used for cardiac and circulatory problems, as a tonic and for inflammation. The bark is an appetizer and digestive. The iron content of the leaves is high, and they are reportedly prescribed for anaemia in the Philippines. |
| Morus alba | Medicine: Bark is said to be good in the treatment of stomach-ache, neuralgic pains and dropsy; leaves and young branchlets used for treating heavy colds, cough, red eye, insect bites and wounds; fruit used in the treatment of sore throat, dyspepsia and melancholia. |
| Morus nigra | Medicine: The main use of M. nigra in modern medicine is for the preparation of a syrup obtained from the ripe fruit employed to flavour or colour other medicines. It is a dark violet or purple liquid, with a faint odour and a refreshing, sweet-acid taste. M. nigra leaves are used in pharmacy for their astringent properties. M. nigra has laxative and antipyretic properties. The bark is a reputed anthelmintic, used to expel tapeworms. A leaf, flower or root decoction can be gargled for diabetes; fever, sore throat and swollen vocal chords are treated with fruit juice. A parasitic fungus, known locally as ‘meshimakobu’, brown on the outside and yellow inside, grows on the old stems of mulberry trees on the island of Meshima, Japan, and is used medicinally there. |
| Musanga cecropioides | Medicine: The bark decoction is used in treating chest related ailments, the trunk sap reportedly has lactogenic activity in nursing mothers. The large stipular sheath and inflorescence are boiled in soup and administered to promote menstruation (emmenagogue). Bark infusion of M. cecropioides is gargled to allay toothache. The root bark is eaten with kola nut to cure coughs, and the bark from callouses is tied on to wounds where it is supposed to effect a cure. |
| Myrianthus arboreus | Medicine: M. arboreus has various medicinal uses in Africa, including the treatment of dysentery and diarrhoea with bark infusions. Seeds are used for boils. The bark decoction is adminstered for diabetes. Other medicinal uses are for headaches, swellings and tumours. |
| Myristica fragrans | Medicine: It is widely used as a traditional medicine in the Middle East and Asia. In Western medicine nutmeg is used as a stomachic, stimulant, carminative as well as for intestinal catarrh and colic, headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, fever, bad breath, to stimulate appetites and to control flatulence. It is also valuable for its aphrodisiac and anti-inflammatory properties. |
| Myroxylon balsamum | Medicine: Tolu balsam is used as a feeble expectorant in cough mixtures and as an inhalant for catarrh and bronchitis. Peru balsam is used extensively as a local protectant, rubefacient, parasiticide in certain skin diseases, antiseptic, and applied externally as an ointment, or in alcoholic solutions. It is rarely used internally as an expectorant. Alcoholic extracts of tolu and Peru balsam inhibit Mycobacterium tuberculosis. |
| Nauclea diderrichii | Medicine: A bark decoction is prescribed for anaemia, stomach-ache and indigestion, as part of an infusion for treating jaundice, bark infusion to treat gonorrhoea; a decoction of leaves is used as a wash for measles. |
| Nauclea orientalis | Medicine: The leaves and bark of N. orientalis are used medicinally against abdominal pain, animal bites and wounds. |
| Nephelium lappaceum | Medicine: Fruit is said to be astringent, stomachic, and anthelmintic; the leaves are used in poultices for headaches. In Java the toxic saponin is dried and used as medicine. In Malaysia, the roots are used in a decoction for treating fever; and the bark as an astringent for tongue diseases. |
| Ocimum gratissimum | Medicine: The whole plant and the essential oil have many applications in traditional medicine, especially in Africa and India. Preparations from the whole plant are used as stomachic and in treating sunstroke, headache and influenza. The seeds have laxative properties and are prescribed against gonorrhoea. The essential oil is applied against fever, inflammations of the throat, ears or eyes, stomach pain, diarrhoea and skin diseases. It is being tested as an antibiotic. |
| Ocotea usambarensis | Medicine: Bark or roots are pounded, water added and the resulting paste applied on swellings such as those on the throat and other tumours. Inner bark may be pounded, mixed with Brucea spp and Myrica salicifolia and taken in a meat soup as a remedy for abscess, whooping cough and measles. In Kenya, the Taita people boil the bark in water and use it to treat a fatal childhood disease called ‘nyago’ characterized by strong muscular contractions, stomach pains and disturbed breathing, or it may be scraped and the resulting powder used to dress wounds. Malaria and backache are treated using juice obtained from roots that have been pounded and soaked in water. |
| Olea europaea ssp. africana | Medicine: The Wandorobo and Kipsigis of Kenya use a root or bark decoction as a remedy for malaria. |
| Osyris compressa | Medicine: A boiled concoction of the bark together with other herbs is reputed to be useful in improving blood circulation, digestive, respiratory and nervous systems. The boiled product is given to women after giving birth to boost their appetite. The oils and paste derived from the bark is used to treat skin diseases such as infectious sores, ulcers, acne and rashes. The tree is also known to be disinfectant and a sedative. It is reputed to be effective against the killer hepatitis B. |
| Osyris lanceolata | Medicine: A root decoction is used to treat diarrhea in Kenya; a decoction of the bark and heartwood is used to treat sexually transmitted diseases and anaemia in Tanzania. Extracts from the plant can cure certain diseases, including the killer Hepatitis B. |
| Ougeinia dalbergioides | Medicine: The bark is used against fevers and a sap exudate is used to make a medicine against dysentery. |
| Parinari curatellifolia | Medicine: A hot fomentation of the bark is used in the treatment of pneumonia. A leaf decoction is either drunk or used in a bath as a fever remedy. Crushed or pulped leaves are used in a dressing for fractures or dislocations, and for wounds, sores and cuts. |
| Parkia biglobosa | Medicine: Bark is used as a mouthwash, vapour inhalant for toothache, or for ear complaints. It is macerated in baths for leprosy and used for bronchitis, pneumonia, skin infections, sores, ulcers, bilharzia, washes for fever, malaria, diarrhoea, violent colic and vomiting, sterility, venereal diseases, guinea worm, oedema and rickets, and as a poison antidote. Leaves are used in lotions for sore eyes, burns, haemorrhoids and toothache. Seed is taken for tension, and pulp for fevers, as a diuretic and as a mild purgative. Roots are used in a lotion for sore eyes. |
| Parkia speciosa | Medicine: The seeds are known to be hypoglycemic (reducing blood sugar level), and is used traditionally for treating kidney pain, cancer, diabetes, hepatalgia, oedema, nephritis, colic, cholera and as an anthelmintic; also applied externally to wounds and ulcers. The seeds are also valued as a carminative. |
| Parkinsonia aculeata | Medicine: Leaf, fruit and stem decoctions are taken orally to treat fever, malaria and as an abortifacient. Flower and leaf extractions in alcohol are applied as a poultice to treat rheumatism. |
| Paullinia cupana | Medicine: Guarana is attributed antipyretic, antineuralgic and antidiarrhoeal properties and is reputed to be a powerful stimulant, an analgesic comparable to aspirin and an anti-influenza agent. The Rainforest tribes have used guarana mainly as a stimulant, astringent and in treating chronic diarrhoea. |
| Paulownia imperialis | Medicine: The leaves, flowers, fruits and roots are used in China for making medical decoctions. An aqueous solution prepared from the leaves and capsules is prescribed for daily application over the head to promote a healthy growth of hair, and another for turning grey hair black. An aqueous solution prepared from the leaves and wood is prescribed for swollen feet. A tincture prepared from heating the inner bark with water and whiskey is administered internally to patients having high fever and delirium. The leaves steamed in vinegar or the bark fried in vinegar are prescribed as a dressing for bruises. An aqueous concoction made from the flowers and other Chinese plants is administered internally for the cure of ailments of the liver or bile that cause dizziness. |
| Pausinystalia johimbe | Medicine: The bark contains up to 6% of a mixture of alkaloids, the principle one being yohimbine, which is also known as aphrodine, quebrachine or corynine. The presence and amount of alkaloid activity in P. johimbe bark is highly variable. P. johimbe, is the source of the only clinically-proven cure for impotence and has long been used as a traditional stimulant in Africa. Both the crude drug and yohimbine have a long history of use as aphrodisiacs in Western medicine in both prescription and herbal markets. Yohimbe is symatolytic and hypotensive and has a local anaesthetic action similar to that of cocaine but it is not mydriatic. The vasodilating action of yohimbe is particularly strong on the sex organs, hence its aphrodisiac action. P. johimbe is also used as a local anaesthetic, a mild stimulant to prevent drowsiness, a hallucinogen, a treatment for angina, a hypotensive, a general tonic, a performance enhancer for athletes, a remedy to increase the clarity of the voices of singers during long festivals and as a treatment to increase the resilience of hunting dogs. Yohimbine-related products have also been widely used as a vetinerary medicine for the promotion of sexual proclivity amongst stud animals. Remedies are taken in two forms: powder (ground bark) and liquid (bark boiled in water). |
| Peltophorum africanum | Medicine: The bark and roots are commonly used in traditional medicine. Bark is chewed to relieve colic; an infusion, sometimes with leaves, is taken orally to relieve a variety of stomach disorders such as diarrhoea and dysentery and to get rid of intestinal parasites. Steam from a hot bark decoction is applied to sore eyes and, in serious cases, it is dropped into the eyes. The powdered decorticated root is applied to wounds to hasten healing, and a decoction is taken by mouth or gargled to treat sores in the throat. The roots are also boiled in water and used as an enema. Leaves are boiled and the steam directed into the mouth to relieve toothache. The Zulu of South Africa use the tree as part of a mixture to cure infertility. |
| Peltophorum dasyrhachis | Medicine: The bark is used in an infusion for coughs. |
| Peltophorum pterocarpum | Medicine: In traditional medicine it is used as an astringent to cure or relieve intestinal disorders after pain at childbirth, sprains, bruises and swelling or as a lotion for eye troubles, muscular pains and sores. It is also used for gargles and tooth powders. |
| Pentaclethra macroloba | Medicine: Seeds and bark have multiple medicinal uses. It is used against snakebites, ulcers and insect bites. The bark is a remedy for dysentery |
| Pentaclethra macrophylla | Medicine: Crushed seeds taken in case of abortion; leaf and stem decoctions are taken against diarrhoea. |
| Persea americana | Medicine: Recently anti-cancerous activity has been reported in extracts of leaves and fresh shoots of avocado. Oil extracted from the seeds has astringent properties, and an oral infusion of the leaves is used to treat dysentery. The skin of the fruit has anti-helmintic properties. The avocado is also said to have spasmolitic and abortive properties. The seed is ground and made into an ointment used to treat various skin afflictions, such as scabies, purulent wounds, lesions of the scalp and dandruff. The flesh is also used in traditional medicine. |
| Phoenix dactylifera | Medicine: Dates are a demulcent, an expectorant and a laxative, and are used to treat respiratory diseases and fever. The tree yields a gum used in treating diarrhoea. |
| Phoenix reclinata | Medicine: Parts of the tree are used as a remedy for pleurisy. |
| Phyllanthus acidus | Medicine: The latex is credited with emetic and purgative activity. In Indonesia the bark is heated with coconut oil and spread on eruptions on feet and hands. An infusion of the root is taken to alleviate asthma in Java. In Borneo, roots are used in the treatment of psoriosis of the feet. A leaf decoction is applied to urticaria, a decoction of the bark is used to treat bronchial catarrh in Philippines. The fruit is used as a laxative in Myanmar. In India, the fruits are taken as a liver tonic to enrich the blood. |
| Phyllanthus reticulatus | Medicine: P. reticulatus has numerous medicinal uses. Roots, bark, leaves, as well as fruits are used for a large number of complaints, notably to treat asthma and coughs, and for injuries of the skin. |
| Phytolacca dioica | Medicine: The fruit has been used as a human emetic and purgative; an infusion of the leaves also acts as a purgative. |
| Piliostigma malabaricum | Medicine: The pounded bark is used in Timor as a poultice. The leaves are used as a febrifuge and the flower infusion as an anti-dysenteric. |
| Piliostigma thonningii | Medicine: P. thonningii is used medicinally in many African countries to treat wounds, ulcers, gastric/heart pain, gingivitis and as an antipyretic. In Tanzania and Zimbabwe, a cough remedy is prepared from the root bark. Polyphenolic fractions of the root bark, exhibit potent antitussive activity. In experiments with mice, this fraction exhibited a significant anti-inflammatory/analgesic activity against phenylquinone-induced writhings. The new compounds Piliostigmin, a 2-phenoxychromone, and C-methylflavonols were isolated from leaves of P. thonningii. Extracts were screened for activity against Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and African swine fever virus (ASFV). The extracts had virucidal activity against HSV-1. Further studies showed that the tested extract inhibited HSV-1 infection, and had activity. In another setting P. thonningii showed blood plasma coagulating activity. |
| Pinus caribaea | Medicine: P. caribaea leaf oil is sometimes used for medicinal baths; locally, the seeds may be consumed. |
| Pinus merkusii | Medicine: Ethyl alcohol extracts of P. merkusii showed anti-cancer activity in tests in the Philippines. |
| Pinus patula | Medicine: Pine-leaf oil is sometimes used for medicinal baths, and the seeds may be consumed locally. |
| Pinus wallichiana | Medicine: The turpentine obtained from the resin of all pine trees is antiseptic, diuretic, rubefacient and vermifuge. It is a valuable remedy used internally in the treatment of kidney and bladder complaints and is used both internally and as a rub and steam bath in the treatment of rheumatic affections. It is also very beneficial to the respiratory system and so is useful in treating diseases of the mucous membranes and respiratory complaints such as coughs, colds, influenza and tuberclosis. Externally it is a very beneficial treatment for a variety of skin complaints, wounds, sores, burns, boils etc and is used in the form of liniment plasters, poultices, herbal steam baths and inhalers.The wood is diaphoretic and stimulant. It is useful in treating burning of the body, cough, fainting and ulcers. |
| Piper methysticum | Medicine: Roots (and stems) used medicinally throughout the Pacific and grown commercially for export to the U.S. and elsewhere, as a mild euphoriant and anesthetic, hypnotic also a mild sedative; roots, stems, and leaves used medicinally to treat convulsions, stiffness, toothaches, sore throats, stomachache, backache, respiratory diseases, filariasis, intestinal parasites, and venereal disease; kava exported to Germany as an ingredient in medicines to treat high blood pressure. Root decoction and leaves were chewed by women as contraceptive; juice from fresh leaves used as an embrocation on wounds. |
| Pistacia integerrima | Medicine: P. integgerima galls are used in traditional medicine to treat coughs, asthma, diarrhoea, dysentery, fever, vomiting, appetite loss, nose bleeding, snake bites and scorpion stings. The plant extracts are used in treating livestock diseases. |
| Pithecellobium dulce | Medicine: In Haiti root and bark decoctions are taken orally against diarrhoea; fruit pulp is taken orally to stop blood flow in case of heamoptysis. The seed juice is inhaled into the nostrils against chest congestion and pulverised seeds are ingested for internal ulcers. The leaves, when applied as a plaster, can allay pain of venereal sores and taken with salt can cure indigestion, but can also produce abortion. The root bark may be used to cure dysentery. The bark is used medicinally as a ferbrifuge. |
| Pittosporum resiniferum | Medicine: Fruit is used as a panacea by Philippine traditionalists, especially, however, for abdominal pain. The oleoresin is used to treat muscular pains and skin diseases). The nut decoction is used for colds. Crushed nuts are mixed with coconut oil as a relief for myalgia. |
| Platycladus orientalis | Medicine: It was used to treat scurvy. Leaf extracts have been shown to inhibit bacterial growth. |
| Podocarpus falcatus | Medicine: Oil extracted from the seeds or fruits are used to treat gonorrhoea. The sap is used as a remedy for chest complaints. |
| Polyscias fulva | Medicine: Leaves have useful medicinal properties. |
| Pometia pinnata | Medicine: The leaves and bark are used medicinally. |
| Pongamia pinnata | Medicine: The seed oil is rubbed as liniment on skin diseases and rheumatic parts. Internally, it is given as a stomachic and cholagogue in dyspepsia and cases of sluggish liver. A seed powder is given as an expectorant in bronchitis and whooping cough, and is also prescribed as a ferbifuge and tonic. Seed paste is spread on sores and rheumatic parts. An infusion of the leaves is used to relieve rheumatism, a decoction is a cough remedy, expressed juice is used on herpes and itches, and when they are crushed, applied as a poultice for the treatment of parasitic skin diseases. The flowers are claimed to have anti-diabetic action. Fresh stem bark is applied to reduce the enlargement of the spleen. It is astringent and taken internally to relieve bleeding heamorrhoids while a poultice of young leaves is laid on externally. The root bark contains a bitter alkaloid and is employed by the people of Guimaras Island in the Philippines as an abortifacient. The antiseptic root juice is put on sores and ulcers and used to clean teeth. |
| Populus ciliata | Medicine: Bark is a tonic, stimulant and blood purifier. |
| Populus deltoides | Medicine: The bark is used to treat rheumatism, gout and scurvy and infections of the chest, kidneys and stomach; the buds are used as a vulnerary and pectoral. In Europe, the fresh flowers are steeped in cold water to purify blood. Used as a cancer remedy by native Americans, who also used the buds in many ways, for example, stewed in bear fat for earache, bronchitis or cough, or cooked in tallow to make an ointment for eczema, myalgia and sores, or in poultices for hip or lung pain, colds and respiratory problems. Rotten leaves are a herbal bath for general body pain; chewed root is applied as a haemostat. Bark is for heart ailments, sprains and strains, and the root for backache, female ailments such as metrorrhagia and weakness. |
| Populus euphratica | Medicine: The twigs are chewed and used for cleaning teeth. |
| Pouteria campechiana | Medicine: A decoction of the astringent bark is taken as a febrifuge in Mexico and applied on skin eruptions in Cuba. A preparation of the seeds has been employed as a remedy for ulcers. |
| Pouteria sapota | Medicine: The seed kernel oil is used as a skin ointment and as a hair dressing believed to stop falling hair. In 1970, clinical tests at the University of California at Los Angeles failed to reveal any hair-growth promoting activity but confirmed that the oil of sapote seed is effective in stopping hair-fall caused by seborrheic dermatitis. The oil is employed as a sedative in eye and ear ailments. The seed residue after oil extraction is applied as a poultice on painful skin afflictions. A seed infusion is used as an eyewash in Cuba. In Mexico, the pulverized seed coat is reported to be a remedy for coronary trouble and, taken with wine, is said to be helpful against kidney stones and rheumatism. The Aztecs employed it against epilepsy. The seed kernel is regarded as a digestive; the oil is said to be diuretic. The bark is bitter and astringent and contains lucumin, a cyanogenic glycoside. A decoction of the bark is taken as a pectoral. In Costa Rica a "tea" of the bark and leaves is administered in arteriosclerosis and hypertension. The milky sap is emetic and anthelmintic and has been used to remove warts and fungal growths on the skin. |
| Prosopis africana | Medicine: Almost all parts of the tree are used in medicine, the leaves in particular for the treatment of headache and toothache as well as various other head ailments. Leaves and bark are combined to treat rheumatism. Remedies for skin diseases, caries, fevers and eyewashes are obtained from the bark. The roots are a diuretic and are used to treat gonorrhoea, tooth and stomach-ache, dysentery and bronchitis. In Mali the leaves, bark, twigs and roots are used to treat and relieve bronchitis, dermatitis, tooth decay, dysentery, malaria and stomach cramps. In Ghana, boiled roots serve as a poultice for sore throat, root decoction for toothache, and bark as a dressing or lotion for wounds or cuts. |
| Prosopis alba | Medicine: The bark, branches, gum and foliage are used against gastritis and as an antiseptic, antidysenteric and emollient. These uses are reducing with the general introduction of patented medicines. |
| Prosopis cineraria | Medicine: Reported to be astringent, demulcent, and pectoral, it is a folk remedy for various ailments. In India, the flowers are mixed with sugar and administered to prevent miscarriage. In Las Bela, India, the ashes are rubbed over the skin to remove hair. The bark, considered anthelmintic, refrigerant, and tonic, is used for asthma, bronchitis, dysentery, leucoderma, leprosy, muscle tremors, piles, and wandering of the mind. Smoke from the leaves is suggested for eye troubles, but the fruit is said to be indigestible, inducing biliousness, and destroying nails and hair. Punjabis consider the pod astringent. Central Province Indians use bark for rheumatism. Although recommended for scorpion sting and snakebite, the plant has not proved out.Reclamation: The trees are planted for sand dune stabilization and reclamation. |
| Prosopis glandulosa | Medicine: P. glandulosa has been used for a variety of medicinal purposes, including lice control and treatment of sore throat, skin sores and ulcers. Reported to be a collyrium, emetic and laxative, P. glandulosa is a folk remedy for dyspepsia, eruptions, hernias and skin and umbilical ailments. |
| Prosopis juliflora | Medicine: P. juliflora syrup prepared from ground pods has various medicinal values. It is given to children showing weight deficiency or retardation in motor development, the syrup is believed to increase lactation. It is also used for preparing various medicinal syrups, particularly for expectorants. Tea made from P. juliflora is thought to be good for digestive disturbances and skin lesions. |
| Prunus africana | Medicine: Liquid extracts from P. africana bark are used in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate gland hypertrophy. Leaves are used as an inhalant for fever or are drunk as an infusion to improve appetite. Water is added to pounded bark, and the red liquid is used as a remedy for stomach-ache; bark extract may be used as a purgative for cattle. |
| Psidium guajava | Medicine: All parts of the young fruit are astringent. Guava exhibits antibacterial action against intestinal pathogens such as Staphyloccocus. The dried ripe fruits are recommended as a remedy for dysentery, while the leaves and fruits are used as a cure for diarrhoea. Oil contains bisabolene and flavinoides that exhibit anti-inflammatory properties. A decoction of the leaves or bark is taken externally as a lotion for skin complaints, ringworm, wounds, and ulcers. Water from soaking the fruit is good to treat diabetes. The leaves are made into a cataplasm; cooked, they are given to horses with strangle. Some suggested treatments are digestive tract ailments, cold, and high blood pressure: leaf decoction or fruit juice with salt or sugar taken orally. Trauma, pain, headache, and rheumatism: hot leaf decoction compress. Sore throat, hoarse throat: leaf decoction, gargle. Varix, ulcer: leaf decoction, treated with warm water, bath. Hepatitis, gonorrhoea, and diarrhoea: clear fruit juice. |
| Pterocarpus angolensis | Medicine: The bark has several uses; heated in water and mixed with figs it is massaged on the breast to stimulate lactation; a cold infusion from the bark alone provides a remedy for nettle rash. A decoction of the bark is also taken orally for piles, and a cold infusion made from the bark is taken to relieve stomach disorders, headaches, blood in the urine, earache and mouth ulcers. Bark or roots, boiled with fresh meat, is used as a preliminary accelerator in the treatment of gonorrhoea. A decoction of the root is believed to be a cure for malaria and blackwater fever. An infusion made from the roots is taken orally for the treatment of diarrhoea, bilharzia and abdominal pains. Roots are burnt and the ashes drunk in water to treat asthma and tuberculosis. Corneal ulcers are bathed in an eyewash obtained when roots of the tree are 1st cleaned and then left to soak in water for 6 hours. In the follow-up treatment of this ailment, flowers are placed in boiling water over which the patient holds the face, allowing the steam to fill the eyes; dropping sap into the eyes treats cataracts and sore eyes. The bark is boiled and the resulting red fluid is used in treating skin lesions and ringworm. Ripe seeds are burnt and the ashes applied to inflamed areas of the skin and to bleeding gums. The sap is reputed to heal sores, including ringworm sores and stab wounds, and to treat various other ailments. |
| Pterocarpus erinaceus | Medicine: Leaves used in abortifacient mixtures and as a febrifuge. Bark is used for ringworm of scalp, dressing for chronic ulcers, blennorrhagia and in a gargle for tooth and mouth troubles. Bark and resin used for urethral discharge and as an astringent for severe diarrhoea and dysentery. The grated root is mixed tobacco and smoked in a pipe as a cough remedy. |
| Pterocarpus indicus | Medicine: The red latex is used in folk remedies for tumors, the plant for cancers, especially of the mouth. The leaves are reported to significantly inhibit the growth of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells in mice. Malayans apply the kino to sores of the mouth, and the root juice to syphilis. Javanese apply the young leaves to boils, prickly heat and ulcers. In the Carolyn Islands, finely powdered leaves are applied to a ruptured vagina. The kino, containing kinotannic acid, was once administered in diarrhoea, often combined with opium. Reported to be antibilious, emetic, and sternutatory, Malay padauk is a folk remedy for bladder ailments, diarrhoea, dropsy, headache, sores, stones, thrush, and tumors of the abdomen. |
| Pterocarpus lucens | Medicine: Bark extracts are used for the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery, while leaves are used for abdominal problems. |
| Pterocarpus rotundifolius | Medicine: Leaf infusion dropped into sore eyes. |
| Pterocarpus santalinoides | Medicine: The tree bark is used as a stomach ache remedy. |
| Pterocarpus soyauxii | Medicine: Bark extracts are used in warding off animal skin parasites in ethnoveterinary practices. Antifungal properties are reported for this plant. |
| Pueraria montana | Medicine: In Chinese medicine the tuber of kudzu is known as 'Radix Puerariae', and it is one of the most important crude drugs. Tea from the tubers is used in China and Indo-China against colds, fever, influenza, diarrhoea, dysentery and hang-overs. The flower buds are used as a diaphoretic and febrifuge. In China, its clinical use for various diseases in internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics and dermatology has been reported. The most important efficacy is for arrhythmia. The starch from the tuber is used medicinally in Japan in soup or tea to restore intestinal and digestive disorders. The extract is effective in lessening alcohol intoxication. P. montana var. lobata has a high flavonoid content. In a methanol extract of the tuber 7 isoflavones were identified and quantified: puerarin (160 mg/g extract), daidzin (22 mg/g), genistin (3.7 mg/g), daidzein (2.6 mg/g), daidzein-4',7-diglucoside (1.2 mg/g), genistein (0.2 mg/g) and formononetin (0.2 mg/g). |
| Punica granatum | Medicine: The bark of the pomegranate tree may be used as a very strong purgative, but it has several serious side-effects. The fresh root bark is used in an anthelmintic preparation, the alkaloid punicine is responsible for this activity. Unripe fruit and flowers are significant emetics. Ripe fruits are laxative and blood enriching also useful in managing sore throat, spre eyes, brain diseases and chest troubles. |
| Pycnanthus angolensis | Medicine: Bark decoction is an emeto-purgative and can act as an antidote to poisoning; help treat leprosy and, if pounded, used for stomachic. Sap acts as a syptic (arrests bleeding). Leaf and bark help to relieve toothache. Leaf decoction as a drink or enema for dropsy. Seed fat and probably leaf juice is used in treating thrush. Root infusion acts as an anthelmintic. |
| Pyrus communis | Medicine: The same antibiotic-like substance (phloretin) found in apple bark is present in bark of pear. |
| Quercus glauca | Medicine: It has been used in traditional medicine as an astringent treatment for haemorrhoids. |
| Rauvolfia caffra | Medicine: The pharmacological studies of the plant show it to be an anti-depressant; it has sedative action and an anti-hypertensive effect accompanied by brachycardia. R. caffra alkaloid (resperine) exerts important effects on behaviour and on autonomic functions, and has been very useful in the treatment of hypertension and psychoses. The root of the plant is traditionally used for treating insomnia and insecurity. A bark decoction is drunk for general body swellings, rheumatism and pneumonia. The stem and root bark can be used as an ascaricide and the powdered unopened inflorescence as a local application to sores on the legs. The root juice, mixed with honey, is applied to fractures. The bark has been used as an astringent and as a colic remedy. The root bark is dried and ground or pounded while fresh and an infusion prepared for the remedy of roundworms and tapeworm. It also acts as a purgative and/or an emetic. The bark is used as a cure for coughs and toothaches. |
| Rauvolfia vomitoria | Medicine: This tree is used medicinally in many African countries. R. vomitoria is used by Nigerian traditional healers to treat psychiatric patients. The dried root of R. vomitoria, administered orally at (doses of 400, 600 or 800 mg/day), showed antipsychotic effects. Overall side effects are minimal. R. vomitoria is used to treat leprosy in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The seed extract is procured for general ilness. Amyrin palmitate, present in a Ghanaian antiarthritic herbal preparation with R. vomitoria has curative properties. The bark has purgative and emetic properties. The root extracts have arbotifacient properties. |
| Rhamnus prinoides | Medicine: A decoction of the root is taken as a blood purifier, to treat pneumonia, gonorrhoea rheumatism and stomach-ache and as a gargle. The leaves are applied as a liniment to simple sprains. Leaf decoction may be mixed with the bark of Erythrina abyssinica to alleviate colic. |
| Rhizophora mucronata | Medicine: It is used also occasionally as medicine in cases of haematuria. |
| Rhododendron arboreum | Medicine: Leaves are applied to the forehead to relieve headache. Unspecified parts are used in the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery. |
| Rhus natalensis | Medicine: The branchlets of this tree are used as toothbrushes. Root decoctions are taken orally to stop diarrhoea. Branch decoctions administered orally for stomach upset. Leaves used in treating coughs and stomachaches. The root decoction also forms part of a medicine for hookworms. The leaf infusion is used in preparing a cough mixture. |
| Ricinodendron heudelotii | Medicine: In Nigeria, root when ground up and mixed with pepper and salt bark is used for constipation. The Temne of Sierra Leone tie to the body bark that has been beaten and warmed to cure elephantiasis. Pregnant Liberian women take a bark liquor to relieve pains and prevent miscarriage. In Cote d’Ivoire, a root-bark decoction taken by mouth is considered a powerful antidysentery medicine. A bark decoction is taken in Gabon for blennorrhoea and painful menstruation and as a poison antidote. |
| Saba comorensis | Medicine: Bark decoction used in treating rheumatism. Fruits sucked for oral thrush in Kenya. |
| Saba senegalensis | Medicine: The leaves are eaten to stop vomiting. In Senegal the leaves are prepared in sauces and condiments as an appetizer with a salty taste. Bark decoctions are taken for dysenteriform diarrhoea and food-poisoning. Crushed leaf infusion has haemostatic/antiseptic usage and the powdered root efficacious on children’s burns. The latex is used for pulmonary troubles and tuberculosis. Fruits eaten as a sterility treatment. |
| Salix babylonica | Medicine: Leaves and bark have astringent and tonic properties. Catkins and young twigs antipyretic. A leaf infusion is given to rheumatics. |
| Salvadora oleoides | Medicine: Leaves are used to relieve cough, and are given to horses as a purgative. Root bark is used as a vesicant. Fruits are used in the treatment of enlarged spleen, rheumatism and fever. The seed fat is used in the treatment of rheumatic pains, in preparation of suppositories and as a base for ointments. Unspecified part used to treat throat swelling of domestic animals in India. |
| Salvadora persica | Medicine: Toothbrushes made from roots and small branches of about 3-5 mm diameter have been used for over 1000 years, especially by Islamic populations in India, Arabia and Africa. Several agents occurring in the bark and wood have been suggested as aids in prevention of dental caries, such as antimicrobial agents that suppress bacterial growth and the formation of plaque. The tooth stick is also said to relieve toothache and gum disease. Roots also are used for cleaning teeth and for relieving toothache. Decoctions of leaves are used as a mouthwash, and masticated leaves for tooth and gum problems. A decoction of the root is used to treat gonorrhoea, spleen trouble and general stomach-ache. Roots are also used for chest diseases or pounded and used as a poultice to heal boils. The bark is scratched and the latex used for treating sores. Seeds are used as a tonic, and seed oil is used on the skin for rheumatism. |
| Sandoricum koetjape | Medicine: The pounded leaves are sudorific when applied to the skin and are used to make a decoction against diarrhoea and fever. The powdered bark is an effective treatment for ringworms, and contains triterpenes with anti-cancer activity. The aromatic roots are employed as an anti-diarrhetic, anti-spasmodic, carminative, antiseptic, astringent, stomachic and are prescribed as a general tonic after childbirth. |
| Santalum ellipticum | Medicine: A shampoo made from a leaf infusion was used for curing dandruff and eliminating head lice. A drink made from finely ground powdered heartwood, mixed with other plants, followed by laxative was used in curing diseases of both male and female sex organs |
| Sapindus mukorossi | Medicine: The fruit and seeds are regarded as a cure for epilepsy in northern India. A decoction of the fruit is used as an expectorant. Seeds are used in China to stop dental caries. The fruit is considered to be haemolytic. |
| Sapium ellipticum | Medicine: Leaves and roots are used to treat mumps. |
| Sarcocephalus latifolius | Medicine: The fruit is eaten as a cough remedy. In Kinshasa, S. latifolius is used by traditional healers to treat diabetes. In Nigeria N. latifolia, is used as a cure for malaria fevers. The aqueous extracts of N. latifolia leaves (0.25-2.0 mg/ml) paralysed T. columbriformis larvae in a concentration-dependent manner (ED50 value of 0.52 mg/ml at 24 h). The paralysing effects of the extracts increased with period of exposure. Extracts of the plant exhibited activity against Escherichia coli, Shigella flexneri, Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus (responsible for gastroenteritis in children). Ethanolic extracts of N. latifolia decreased the level of parasitaemia in a dose-dependent manner in mice experimentally infected with Trypanosoma brucei brucei. |
| Schefflera heptaphylla | Medicine: The bark is widely used in folk medicine for its diuretic properties and as a tonic. The ashes are sometimes used to treat dropsy. In Hong Kong the fresh branchlets are used as a wash to soothe itching of the skin. |
| Schefflera volkensii | Medicine: The resin is mixed with honey and used as remedy for coughs, lung complications and colds in Kenya. |
| Schima wallichii | Medicine: The astringent corollas are used to treat uterine disorders and hysteria. The crude drug is called ‘buah cangkok’ in Indonesia, and ‘changkoh’ in peninsular Malaysia. |
| Schinus molle | Medicine: Leaf juice is used to treat ophthalmia and rheumatism; a bark extract infusion is used for diarrhoea, and resin of the bark is a dangerous purgative. Other known medicinal properties of the tree include using it as an astringent, a balsamic, diuretic, expectorant, masticatory, stomachic, tonic and vulnerary. The ailments it is known to treat include amenorrhoea, bronchitis, gingivitis, gonorrhoea, gout, tuberculosis, tumour, ulcer, urethritis, wart, wounds, and urogenital and venereal diseases. |
| Schinus terebinthifolius | Medicine: S. terebinthifolius is well known for its medicinal characteristics |
| Schinziophyton rautanenii | Medicine: The roots are used as a remedy for stomach pains, the nuts tied around the ankles are said to relieve leg pains. |
| Sclerocarya birrea ssp. caffra | Medicine: Bark of S. birrea ssp. caffra is used to treat a variety of ailments, notably fever, boils and diarrhoea. Together with butter, it is applied as an ointment for headache and pains of the eyes. It is claimed that blood circulation is aided by a steam bath of extracts of S. birrea ssp. caffra mixed with extracts from other plants and roots. Steam from the bark is also used to treat eye disorders. Bark decoction, when mixed with other medicinal plants, treats various infections such as malaria, syphilis, leprosy, hydropsy, dysentery, hepatitis and rheumatism, and is a laxative. It is also used internally and externally as a prophylactic against gangrenous rectitis. Leaves, bark and roots are used externally (as a rub) for snakebite, and internally (as a beverage) for toothache. It has occasionally been used in veterinary medicine. |
| Securidaca longepedunculata | Medicine: Used in both western and southern Africa to treat widely differing ailments. Roots, in small doses (drastic and dangerous in larger doses), are purgative, diuretic, diaphoretic and emetic. They are used for eye complaints such as conjunctivitis, malaria, venereal diseases, urethral discharges, stomach problems, dysentery, rheumatism, fibrositis, toothache, headache, sleeping sickness, cough, chest complaints, snakebite, and wound dressing, and as an aphrodisiac, taenifuge, vermifuge and expectorant. An infusion of the roots is used as a mouthwash in cases of toothache and is applied to cuts on the legs to treat inflammatory conditions. Powder from the burned roots is rubbed into small incisions made on the temple and forehead to relieve headaches. Seeds are used for headache, fever and rheumatism; leaves for snakebite, venereal diseases and coughs; bark for stomach problems and as an arrow poison antidote. |
| Securinega flexuosa | Medicine: The bark is applied medicinally in a fever-reducing drink. |
| Senna atomaria | Medicine: Used in treating cases of skin itch, massaging with crushed leaves, for skin discolouration and insect bites the macerated leaf decoction is applied on the affected area. |
| Senna didymobotrya | Medicine: It is widely used as a purgative and an anti-malaria medicine. A decoction of the leaves is used against stomach complaints. Leaves and roots contain a number of anthraquinones, choline, and the trisaccharide raffinose. |
| Senna siamea | Medicine: In traditional medicine, the fruit is used to charm away intestinal worms and to prevent convulsions in children. The heartwood is said to be a laxative, and in Cambodia a decoction is used against scabies. |
| Senna singueana | Medicine: The root bark is used in Tanzania against convulsions, gonorrhoea, bilharzia, heartburn, stomach-ache, constipation, wounds and snake bites. The ash from the burnt roots mixed with porridge provides a remedy for stomach pains. |
| Sesbania bispinosa | Medicine: Leaves and flowers are prepared as poultices for external application or taken as a decoction for internal ailments. Due to S. bispinosa’s astringent properties, preparations made from it can be used against inflammation, bacterial infections and tumours. In traditional medicine, seed mixed with flour is used to treat ringworm and other skin diseases and worms. |
| Sesbania grandiflora | Medicine: Crushed leaves are applied to sprains and bruises of all kinds. A tea made from the leaves is believed to have antibiotic, anthelmintic, antitumour and contraceptive properties. The bark is considered as a tonic and an antipyretic, a remedy for gastric troubles, colic with diarrhoea and dysentery. A bark decoction is taken orally to treat fever and diabetes. Juice of flowers put in the eyes is said to relieve dimness of vision. The leaves also have medicinal value and are reported to cure night blindness in cattle. In India, all plant parts are reputed to cure night blindness. The root is a well-known medicine for malaria. Leaves and flowers are used as poultices. The principal medicinal effects are due to the tree’s astringency, hence it is used against inflammation, venom and other poisons, bacterial infections and tumors. Root juices are used for poultices and the leaves are applied for rheumatism, swellings, bruises and itching. For systemic disorders, decoctions are taken internally. Root resin, mixed with honey, is taken orally for phlegm and root juices are taken as an expectorant. Sinus congestion is reduced by taking a flower decoction. |
| Sesbania sesban | Medicine: Fresh S. sesban roots and leaves are used to treat scorpion stings, boils and abscesses. The Hausa of Ghana use decoctions of leaves as a drench for cattle to repel tsetse fly. Among the Haya people of Tanzania, it is used to treat sore throat, gonorrhoea, syphilis, spasmodic fits in children and jaundice during pregnancy. The leaves are used in some countries as a tea and are considered to have antibiotic, anthelmintic, antitumour and contraceptive properties. Oil from the seeds is accorded special properties in ayurvedic medicine and is reported to have bactericidal, cardiac depressant and hypoglycaemic actions. |
| Shorea negrosensis | Medicine: It is reported that S. negrosensis wood extractives are tumour-inhibiting. |
| Simaruba glauca | Medicine: All parts of the tree are used for medicinal purposes. The bark is taken as a decoction or tea for diarrhoea and fever. Leaves are used for rheumatism or are applied in the form of a lotion for body pain, bruises or skin itch. |
| Simmondsia chinensis | Medicine: The oil can be used as an antifoam agent in antibiotics production and as a treatment for skin disorders. Jojoba oil from the seed has been used to promote hair growth and is effective in treating dandruff and psoriasis. The oil was used in folk remedies by the Indians in Mexico for cancer, kidney disorders, colds, dysuria, eyes, head, obesity, parturition, poison ivy, sorethroat, warts, and wounds. |
| Sophora japonica | Medicine: The flower buds of S. japonica are astringent and possess styptic properties. They are a reputed remedy for the prevention of various types of haemorrhages (e.g.) haemoptysis, epistaxis, metrorrhagia), haemorrhoids, and are useful for the treatment of hypertension. Flower buds and young pods are an important source of rutin, which has 'vitamin P'-like properties and is used in the treatment of conditions characterized by increased capillary permeability and fragility. An extracts from the pods is toxic, but also can be used to lower blood pressure. S. japonica is also reputed to show oestrogenic activity. |
| Spathodea campanulata | Medicine: The bark has laxative and antiseptic properties, and the seeds, flowers and roots are used as medicine. The bark is chewed and sprayed over swollen cheeks. The bark may also be boiled in water used for bathing newly born babies to heal body rashes. |
| Spondias mombin | Medicine: Both bark and flowers are used in folk medicine to make cure-all teas for digestive tract ailments, lower back pain, rheumatism, angina, sore throat, malarial fever, congestion, diarrhoea, urethritis, metrorrhagia, and as contraceptive. Plant extracts exhibit antibacterial properties, and a decoction of the bark or root bark is considered antiseptic. The roots are regarded as febrifugal, and leaf decoctions used for colds, fevers and gonorrhoea. |
| Spondias purpurea | Medicine: In Haiti a number of medicinal uses for this tree are reported; for swollen glands and trauma the leaf juice is taken orally, for headaches the crushed leaves are applied as a head bath, the fruit is consumed in large amounts to clear effects of constipation, other indications treated using preparations from this plant are dysentery and diarrhoea. Tree parts also used in preparation of a herbal remedy for sore throat. The leaves of this tree exhibit anti-bacterial properties. |
| Steganotaenia araliacea | Medicine: The roots are used in treating snake bites and the tree trunk reported to have snake deterring activity, leaves are rubbed on wounds as general disinfectant. Roots and bark used to cure sore throat. Bark is chewed for fever. Twigs are used in dental care as toothbrushes and bark used in preparing a medication for a heart complication. The bark decoction, prepared by boiling the bark for one hour, is added to milk and administered orally to adults as a remedy for stomachache/dysentry. The roots are used in treating painful chest conditions. Plant material also used as medicine for gas in stomach. Saponins isolated from the leaves of S. araliacea have shown antileukaemic activity. |
| Sterculia foetida | Medicine: Leaves and bark have considerable medicinal value; in Ghana, seeds are taken as a purgative. Oil from the seed is extracted on a local scale to be used in medicine. |
| Stereospermum kunthianum | Medicine: Pods are chewed with salt for coughs and are used in treatment of ulcers, leprosy, skin eruptions and venereal diseases; also used to cure flatulence in horses. Leaf infusion is used for washing wounds; macerated leaves are used to treat asthenia and exhaustion. Bark is used as a haemostatic and for treating wounds, and a stem-bark decoction is used to cure bronchitis, pneumonia and coughs. Venereal diseases, respiratory ailments and gastritis are treated using roots and leaves. |
| Strychnos cocculoides | Medicine: S. cocculoides root is chewed to treat eczema; a root decoction is drunk as a cure for gonorrhoea, and pounded leaves are used to treat sores. The fruit is used in making eardrops, and a fruit preparation is mixed with honey or sugar to treat coughs. Roots, leaves and bark are used in treating disorders of the male organs. |
| Strychnos henningsii | Medicine: S. henningsii is used in African traditional medicine to treat various ailments including rheumatism, syphilis, gastrointestinal disorders (purgative) and snake bites. The ground bark is a mouth antiseptic and applied onto wounds in cattle and horses to hasten healing. Some of the applications can be explained partially by the presence of retuline-like alkaloids. S. henningsii has potential in the development of new antinociceptive and antispasmodic drugs. |
| Strychnos innocua | Medicine: A root decoction is taken as a remedy for gonorrhoea; fresh roots are used to treat snakebite. The bark and twigs are pounded, soaked in cold water and the infusion drunk to facilitate birth. The fruit pulp is used as a remedy for dysentery and as eardrops. Seeds have emetic properties. |
| Strychnos spinosa | Medicine: Juice from the fruit and roots is dropped into the ears as a remedy for earache; the roots, leaves and bark are used in the treatment of disorders of the male organs. A decoction of the roots is taken orally for colds or is drunk with milk to cure dropsy. Roots or green fruits are used by the Zulu of South Africa as an antidote for snakebite. The roots alone provide an emetic and also a remedy for fever and inflamed eyes. An analgesic is made from a decoction of the leaves. Jigger fleas are removed from the feet after applying a paste in which the grated root is mixed with oil. |
| Styrax tonkinensis | Medicine: Siam benzoin is used in modern pharmaceuticals as an inhalant with steam for the relief of cough, laryngitis, bronchitis and upper respiratory tract disorders or as a mild antiseptic. Also, benzoin extract is used in Purol, a well-known antibacterial powder used to freshen and soothe dry skin and ameliorate skin allergies. It is used in traditional medicine in China to treat rheumatism, coughs, colds, stomach ache and heart burn: it has also been used in the treatment of apoplexy, dizziness, convulsions and glycosuria. A rose and benzoin combination is a pleasant, soothing scent, comforting and warming. |
| Swietenia humilis | Medicine: The seeds of S. humilis are used in traditional medicine to treat chest pains, coughs, cancer and amoebiasis, and for their anthelmintic properties. The tetranortriterpenoids humilinolide A from the S. humilis seeds induces smooth muscle (ileal and uterine) contraction. |
| Swietenia macrophylla | Medicine: Various medicinal uses of parts of the tree are reported from Central America. |
| Swietenia mahagoni | Medicine: S. mahagoni is a medicinal plant throughout the Caribbean. The bark is considered an astringent and is taken orally as a decoction for diarrhoea, as a source of vitamins and iron, and as a medicine to induce haemorrhage. When the bark is steeped to a red liquid, it is taken to clear blood, increase appetite, and restore strength in cases of tuberculosis. |
| Syzygium aromaticum | Medicine: Taken internally (tea) for stomach upsets, chills and impotence. Flower buds chewed to freshen breath or ease toothache pain. Also applied externally (essential oil) for toothache, headache, cold, arthritis and rheumatism. Two little-known compounds in clove oil have shown "strong activity" against bacteria associated with plaque formation and gum disease. The oil is also useful for ulcers, bruises, burns, bronchitis, asthma, minor infections and colic. Sometimes used to ease nausea. |
| Syzygium cordatum | Medicine: Roots and bark are boiled and the decoction is used as a remedy for indigestion and giddiness; an extract of the leaves is used as a purgative or diarrhoea treatment. |
| Syzygium cuminii | Medicine: The seeds and bark are well known in the Far East for the treatment of dysentery and in control of hyperglycaemia and glycosuria in diabetic patients. The astringent bark may be used as a gargle. Fruits are used as a relief for colic, while the wood yields a sulphate pulp that has medicinal uses. |
| Syzygium guineense | Medicine: Fruit is used as a remedy for dysentery, while a decoction of the bark is used as an antidiarrhoeic. In traditional medicine, liquid from the pounded bark and roots, mixed with water, is used as a purgative. |
| Syzygium jambos | Medicine: In India, the fruit is regarded as a tonic for the brain and liver. An infusion of the fruit acts as a diuretic. A sweetened preparation of the flowers is believed to reduce fever. The seeds are employed against diarrhoea, dysentery and catarrh. In Nicaragua, it has been claimed that an infusion of roasted, powdered seeds is beneficial to diabetics. They say in Colombia that the seeds have an anesthetic property. The leaf decoction is applied to sore eyes, also serves as a diuretic and expectorant and treatment for rheumatism. The juice of macerated leaves is taken as a febrifuge. Powdered leaves have been rubbed on the bodies of smallpox patients for the cooling effect. The bark contains 7-12.4% tannin. It is emetic and cathartic. The decoction is administered to relieve asthma, bronchitis and hoarseness. Cuban people believe that the root is an effective remedy for epilepsy. |
| Syzygium malaccense | Medicine: Various parts of the tree are used in traditional medicine, and some have in fact been shown to possess antibiotic activity. In particular the bark, leaves and roots of Malay apple are used against different ailments in a number of countries, also outside Asia (e.g. Hawaii, Brazil). |
| Syzygium samarangense | Medicine: Various parts of the tree are used in traditional medicine, and some have in fact been shown to possess antibiotic activity. |
| Tamarindus indica | Medicine: The bark is astringent and tonic and its ash may be given internally as a digestive. Incorporated into lotions or poultices, the bark may be used to relives sores, ulcers, boils and rashes. It may also be administered as a decoction against asthma and amenorrhea and as a febrifuge. Leaf extracts exhibit anti-oxidant activity in the liver, and are a common ingredient in cardiac and blood sugar reducing medicines. Young leaves may be used in fomentation for rheumatism, applied to sores and wounds, or administered as a poultice for inflammation of joints to reduce swelling and relieve pain. A sweetened decoction of the leaves is good against throat infection, cough, fever, and even intestinal worms. Filtered hot juice of young leaves and a poultice of the flowers are used for conjunctivitis. The pulp may be used as a massage is used to treat rheumatism, as an acid refrigerant, a mild laxative and also to treat scurvy. Powdered seeds may be given to cure dysentery and diarrhoea. |
| Tamarix aphylla | Medicine: Flower galls are used as an astringent and gargle, bark for treating eczema and other skin diseases. |
| Tarchonanthus camphoratus | Medicine: Several African tribes use this plant as a treatment for bronchitis and chest ailments, for chilblains, tired legs and sore feet. A tea made of the crushed leaf is taken infused in one cup of boiling water for stomach ailments, asthma, over-anxiety and heartburn. Tarchonanthus essential oil has also been found to have excellent cosmetic and dermatological properties specially as soothing, anti-irritation, decongestant remedy for sensitive skins, dermatitis, sunburns, bedsores, etc. The Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania carry leaves of the plant as a deodorant. |
| Taxus baccata | Medicine: The arilles, removed from their seeds, have diuretic and laxative effects. It was used medicinally to treat viper bites, hydrophobia (rabies), heart ailments and as an abortifascient. It is known to contain the anti-cancer drug taxol, but has not been widely exploited in this connection. |
| Teclea nobilis | Medicine: The leaf or root decoction mixed with honey is used against pneumonia in Kenya. The roots are used as an anthelminthic. The steam inhalation of the leaves reportedly cures fever. |
| Tecoma stans | Medicine: Leaf infusion can be taken orally for diabetes and stomach pains; a strong leaf and root decoction is taken orally as a diuretic, to treat syphilis or for intestinal worms. |
| Tecomaria capensis | Medicine: Powdered bark used for treatment of fever, pneumonia and stomach troubles, also rubbed on bleeding gums to promote blood clotting. Leaf decoction used for diarrhoea and for intestinal inflammation. Believed to ease pain and produce sleep. |
| Tectona grandis | Medicine: In traditional medicine, a wood powder paste has been used against bilious headaches and swellings and internally against dermatitis or as a vermifuge. The charred wood soaked in poppy juice and made into a paste has been used to relieve the swelling of the eyelids. The bark has been used as an astringent and the wood as a hair tonic. |
| Tephrosia purpurea | Medicine: Medicinally, all parts of the plant have tonic and laxative properties. The dried plant is deobstruent, diuretic and useful in treating bronchitis, bilious febrile attacks and obstructions of the liver, spleen and kidneys. It is also recommended as a blood purifier, in the treatment of boils and pimples and is considered a cordial treatment. In southern India, a decoction of the fruit is given against intestinal worms and a fruit extract is used to relieve bodily pains and inflammatory problems. The roots are bitter and a decoction is used as a nematicide for treatment against Toxocora canis larvae which cause a lung disease in Sri Lanka; it is also used against dyspepsia, colic, and chronic diarrhoea and as anthelminthic. |
| Tephrosia villosa | Medicine: Leaf juice is used to treat dropsy and diabetes in India. |
| Tephrosia vogelii | Medicine: Used as an abortifacient, emetic, bactericide, purgative and cure for skin diseases, schistosomiasis, ringworm and parasitic infections. Leaf decoctions are used in the treatment of scabies and yaws; a weak infusion of the leaves is taken as an anthelmintic. Root decoctions are used to treat constipation. |
| Terminalia alata | Medicine: The bark is used medicinally against diarrhoea. Oxalic acid can be extracted from it. |
| Terminalia arjuna | Medicine: T. arjuna has been widely used in Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of cancer, dermatological and gynaecological complaints, heart diseases and urinary disorders. The bark is acrid, an astringent and tonic, and is useful in treatment of high blood pressure and ulcers. The cancer cell growth inhibitory constituent (luteolin) has been isolated from bark, stem and leaves of T. arjuna. Luteolin has also been shown to have specific anti-bacterial activity against Neisseria gonorrhoea. It can also be used as alexiteric, styptic, tonic and anthelmintic and it is useful in fractures, inflammation and wounds and ulcers. |
| Terminalia bellirica | Medicine: The fruit rind (pericarp) is astringent, laxative, anthelmintic, pungent, germicidal and antipyretic. It is applied in a diverse range of conditions including cough, tuberculosis, eye diseases, anti-HIV-1, dyspepsia, diarrhoea, dysentery, inflammation of the small intestine, biliousness, flatulence, liver disease, leprosy, cleanse the blood and promote hair growth in the Ayurvedic drug. Fruit extracts have anti-bacterial activity against Micrococcus pyogenes and Escherichia coli. |
| Terminalia brownii | Medicine: The phloem fibres are chewed and the solution swallowed in the treatment of yellow fever, particularly in children. An extract from the leaves is used to treat pink-eye in livestock and a medicine from the bark is used in the local treatment of hepatitis. |
| Terminalia catappa | Medicine: Parts of the tree, such as the leaves and fruit, are astringent. The leaves, crushed with Dacrydium elatum and rhizomes of Cyperus rotundus, are combined to treat dysentery. The red leaves act as a vermifuge, while the sap of young leaves, cooked with oil from the kernel, is used to treat leprosy. Leaves may be rubbed on breasts to cure pain or, when heated, may be applied to numb parts of the body. They may be used as a dressing for swollen rheumatic joints. Leaves, bark and fruit are used to treat yaws. The bark and root bark are useful for bilious fever, diarrhoea, thrush, and as a remedy for sores and abscesses. The kernel of the fruit mixed with beeswax stops putrid exudation and bloody faeces. It is recommended as a mild laxative and a galactagogue for women, but too frequent use causes diarrhoea. The young leaves are used to cure headaches and colic. |
| Terminalia mantaly | Medicine: The bark and wood are used in Madagascar for treating dysentery. |
| Terminalia prunioides | Medicine: The Somali use a decoction to relieve postnatal abdominal pains. |
| Terminalia sericea | Medicine: Diarrhea and colic were cured by African tribes by using a decoction of the roots. This decoction is very bitter. The leaves are used against stomach disorders and as a cough remedy. Nerifolin, a glucoside, which affects the pulse rate, has been isolated from parts of the silver Terminalia |
| Tetrapleura tetraptera | Medicine: Leaves, bark, roots and the kernels are used for medicinal purposes. |
| Theobroma cacao | Medicine: The rural people in Amazonas State, Brazil, rub cocoa butter on bruises. |
| Thespesia populnea | Medicine: The heartwood has a healing property useful in treating pleurisy and cholera, colic and high fevers; it is carminative. The cooked fruit crushed in coconut oil provides a salve, which, if applied to the hair, will kill lice. The sap of the leaves and decoctions of most parts of the plant are used externally to treat various skin diseases. Juices from the pounded fruits mixed with pounded leaves are ingredients of a poultice to treat headaches and itches. A decoction of the astringent bark is used to treat dysentery and haemorrhoids, and a maceration of it is drunk for colds. The fruit contains an antibiotic and the juice is used to treat herpes. Other extracts of the plant have significant antimalarial activity. Leaf and bark decoctions are taken for high blood pressure. Leaf tea is taken for rheumatism and urinary retention. Seeds are purgative. |
| Tithonia diversifolia | Medicine: An infusion of leaves is used as a medicine for constipation, stomach pains, indigestion, sore throat and liver pains. The leaves should be ground into small pieces, mixed with water, and then drunk. |
| Toona ciliata | Medicine: Various parts of the plant, but especially the bark, are used medicinally, e.g. as an astringent and tonic, to treat dysentery and to heal wounds. |
| Toona sureni | Medicine: The bark and roots are astringent and tonic, used against diarrhoea while the leaf extracts have antibiotic effects. |
| Treculia africana | Medicine: In Ghana, a root decoction is used as an anthelmintic and febrifuge. The caustic sap of male African breadfruit is applied on carious teeth, a bark decoction is used for cough and whooping cough, and ground bark with oil and other plant parts for swellings. It is also used in the treatment of leprosy and as a laxative. |
| Trema orientalis | Medicine: Both bark and leaf decoctions are used as a gargle, inhalation, drink, lotion, bath or vapour bath for coughs, sore throat, asthma, bronchitis, gonorrhoea, yellow fever, toothache, as a vermifuge, and it is known to have anti plasmodium properties. The leaves are reported to be a general antidote to poisons and a bark infusion is drunk to control dysentery. A leaf decoction is used to deworm dogs. |
| Trichilia emetica | Medicine: The leaves can be used as an antidote for the irritation caused by the buffalo bean, whilst the bark is used in the treatment of skin complaints. Pieces of bark or powdered bark are soaked in warm water and used as an emetic or enema. Roots and the oil from the seed also have medicinal qualities; a bitter-tasting medicinal oil, obtained by boiling the ground seed in water, is taken orally to relieve rheumatism. |
| Uapaca kirkiana | Medicine: An infusion made from the roots is used to treat indigestion and dysentery. |
| Vangueria infausta | Medicine: Traditional healers use the roots for a variety of illnesses such as malaria and pneumonia. An infusion made from the roots is used to treat coughs and other chest troubles. A decoction from the root is used as a purgative and an anthelmintic (especially for Ascaris), and is also a popular snakebite remedy. The pounded leaves are applied to tick-bite sores on livestock and dogs to speed up healing. A poultice made of the leaves is used to treat swellings on the legs and inflammation of the navel in children. An infusion of the leaves is used in treating abdominal pain and for the relief of dental pain. In southern Africa, a decoction is used as a remedy for menstrual troubles. |
| Vangueria madagascariensis | Medicine: Roots and bark are used in traditional medicine; for example, in Tanzania an extract from the roots is used to treat worm infections. |
| Vernonia amygdalina | Medicine: An infusion from the roots is given to children suffering from infection by a trematode (Enterobius vermicularis). A cold infusion of the root bark, together with other plants, is given in daily doses to treat bilharzia. The bark and root are taken as a tonic by people suffering from fevers; leaves are also pounded, the juice extracted and drunk for fever. The leaves are pounded and mixed with warm water for bathing to treat spots on the skin and nausea. |
| Vitellaria paradoxa | Medicine: Shea butter protects against sunburn, so is a useful ingredient in sun-protection or post-sun-exposure products. It also encourages wound healing and soothes skin irritation. Shea butter is stable and permits the fast release of medicaments; it can therefore be used as a base for suppositories and ointments. Shea butter is traditionally used in medicines, particularly for the preparation of skin ointments, and is used to treat inflammation, rashes in children, dermatitis, sunburn, chapping, irritation, ulcers and as a rub for rheumatism. Leaf decoctions are used for stomach-ache, headache and as an eye lotion. Roots and root bark are ground to a paste and taken orally to cure jaundice, or are boiled and pounded to treat chronic sores and girth sores in horses. They are also used for the treatment of diarrhoea and stomach-ache. A bark decoction is used in a bath to facilitate childbirth in Cote d’Ivoire; it is drunk to encourage lactation after delivery, although in northern Nigeria such a concoction is said to be lethal. A bark infusion is used as an eyewash as a footbath to help extract jiggers, and to neutralize the venom of the spitting cobra. Infusions have been taken for the treatment of leprosy in Guinea-Bissau and for gastric problems as well as for diarrhoea and dysentery. Macerated with the bark of Ceiba pentandra and salt, infusions have been used to treat cattle with worms in Senegal and Guinea. Tapinanthus globifera, one of the most common parasitic plants on Vitellaria, also has many medicinal uses. |
| Vitex altissima | Medicine: The juice from the bark is used externally against rheumatic swellings and chest pains. |
| Vitex doniana | Medicine: The fruit is used to improve fertility and to treat anaemia, jaundice, leprosy and dysentery. The root is used for gonorrhoea, and women drink a decoction of it for backaches. The young tender leaves are pounded and the juice squeezed into the eyes to treat eye troubles. |
| Vitex negundo | Medicine: All parts of the plant are commonly used in Indian medicine. Leaves possess discutient properties and are applied to rheumatic swellings of the joints and in sprains. They are aromatic and are smoked for relief of headache and catarrh and a decoction is employed in smoke baths for the treatment of febrile, catarrhal and rheumatic affections. The juice of the leaves is used for the treatment of foetid discharges. They show anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and anti-fungal activity. Roots are used in local medicine for dysentery and are anthelmintic, flowers are astringent and fruits are considered vermifuge. |
| Vitex parviflora | Medicine: Bark and wood are used in local medicine; as a styptic, emetic, antitoxic and to treat jaundice and dropsy. |
| Vitex payos | Medicine: V. payos is used as medicine for stomachache. |
| Vitex pubescens | Medicine: In traditional medicine, a decoction of the bark of V. pubescens is used to treat stomachache, and a poultice of its leaves is used to treat fevers and wounds. |
| Vitex trifolia | Medicine: A poultice of leaves is used to treat rheumatism, contusions, swollen testicles, and as a discutient in sprains. An infusion of the boiled roots is regarded as diaphoretic and diuretic, and is widely drunk in cases of fever and after childbirth. In Malaysia, various parts of the plants are considered a panacea for a wide variety of illnesses ranging from headache to tuberculosis. In Indonesia, the leaves are used in medicinal baths and a tincture or decoction of them for intestinal complaints, whereas the fruits are used as an anthelmintic. In the Bismarck Archipelago, the sap from crushed heated leaves is diluted with water and drunk to relieve headaches. In Vietnam, a decoction of dried fruits is given in the treatment of common cold, headache, watery eyes and mastitis. In Thailand, the fruits are used to treat asthmatic cough and haemorrhoids, and the root is applied in the treatment of liver diseases. An ethanol extract (50%) of V. trifolia shows antispasmodic and antihistamine properties. A crude drug extract of V. trifolia leaves mediated a significant increase in lifespan in mice bearing sarcoma 180 cells, indicating potential antitumour activity. |
| Warburgia salutaris | Medicine: The inner bark is used as a treatment for malaria, colds, chest complaints, coughs, diarrhoea, muscle pains, stomach-ache and general body pains. Dried and ground to a snuff, it is used to clear the sinuses; smoke from the burning bark is inhaled as a remedy for chest complaints. The stem and root bark act as an expectorant; the leaves are used as part of an infusion to treat rheumatism. |
| Warburgia stuhlmannii | Medicine: Bark used in a remedy for toothache and rheumatism. Pulverized bark mixed with honey is used as a cough medicine. Exudate from the bark is mixed with egg, boiled and drunk for constipation. |
| Warburgia ugandensis | Medicine: Dried bark is commonly chewed and the juice swallowed as a remedy for stomach-ache, constipation, toothache, cough, fever, muscle pains, weak joints and general body pains. It is also effective in powdered form for treating the same diseases. Fresh roots are boiled and mixed with soup for the prevention of diarrhoea. Leaf decoction baths are used as a cure for several skin diseases. The inner bark is reddish, bitter and peppery and has a variety of applications. It provides treatment for the common cold; dried and ground to a snuff it is used to clear sinuses; and it is chewed, or smoke from the burning bark inhaled, as a remedy for chest complaints. The bark, roots or leaves can be boiled in water and the decoction drunk to treat malaria, but this causes violent vomiting. |
| Wrightia tinctoria | Medicine: The juice from fresh unripe fruits is used for coagulating milk. The seeds are said to be aphrodisiac and anthelminthic. The leaves are used to relieve toothache when chewed with salt. In Nepal, the milky juice is used to stop bleeding. Also the leaves and roots are pounded in water for treatment of fever. The seeds yield deep red, semi-drying oil, which has medicinal value. In Indian traditional medicine, the bark and leaves are used to treat psoriasis, stomach pains, toothache, and dysentery. |
| Ximenia americana | Medicine: Leaves and twigs are used for fevers, colds, as a mouthwash for toothache, as a laxative and an eye lotion. Leaves are used for headaches, angina, and as a poison antidote. Roots treat skin problems, headaches, leprosy, haemorrhoids, sexually transmitted diseases, guinea worm, sleeping sickness, oedema, and act as an antidote to poison. The fruit is useful in treating habitual constipation. The bark is used in decoction, dried or powdered as a cicatrisant and applied to skin ulcers; it is put on the head for febrile headache, placed in bath water for sick children, and used for kidney and heart complaints. The fruit eaten in large quantities acts as a vermifuge. A decoction of the roots or fruits is used to treat dysentery in calves. |
| Ximenia caffra | Medical use: The roots are used to treat abscess, severe stomachaches or colic, and against malaria, cough and bilharzia. The tree is also used as a remedy for syphilis, hookworm, chest pains and generalized body pain. The roots are pounded and boiled with maize flour for porridge, which is eaten to prevent sterility in women. The roasted and pounded seeds are used for wounds |
| Xylopia aethiopica | Medicine: Medicinally, the fruit is used against cough, stomachache, dizziness, amenorrhoea, bronchitis (when smoked and inhaled), dysentery, enema, bulimia (eating disorder), lumbago and neuralgia. It is also used a calmative, purgative, repulsive to pain, and in the treatment of boils and skin eruptions. The odiforous roots of the plant are employed in tinctures, administered orally to expel worms and other parasitic animals from the intestines, or in teeth rinsing and mouth wash extracts against toothaches. The fruits mixed with its roots are used in the treatment of rheumatism. |
| Zanthoxylum chalybeum | Medicine: Bark extracts are said to cure malaria. |
| Zanthoxylum gilletii | Medicine: A bark decoction is drunk for constipation, complicated gastrointestinal conditions, colds and fever. The root bark of Z. gilletii is used in traditional Tanzanian antimalarial preparations. |
| Zelkova serrata | Medicine: The bark and leaves are used medicinally. |
| Ziziphus abyssinica | Medicine: Ash from the burnt leaves is mixed with salt and applied on the throat to relieve tonsillitis. A fomentation of steaming hot leaves soaked in boiling water are used as on the chest to treat pneumonia. |
| Ziziphus mauritiana | Medicine: Leaves, fruits and bark are used medicinally. Pounded roots are added to drinking water and given to poultry suffering from diarrhoea and to humans for indigestion. |
| Ziziphus mucronata | Medicine: A wide remedy for almost any pain is a poultice of the powdered and baked roots, which are eaten after they are removed from the affected area. Boils and other skin infections are treated with leaf paste, and this, together with an infusion of the roots, is a treatment for tubercular gland swellings, measles, dysentery, lumbago and chest complaints. Roots are used to treat snakebite. The bark is used as an emetic; bark decoction is used for rheumatism and stomach troubles; bark infusion is used to treat coughs; and bark is used in a steam bath to purify the complexion. |
| Zizyphus nummularia | Medicine: Dried fruit used medicinally as astringent in bilious affliction in India. The leaves are used to treat scabies and other skin diseases. |
| Zizyphus spina-christi | Medicine: The leaves contain various alcaloids, including ziziphine, jubanine and amphibine, alpha terpinol, linalol and diverse saponins. In the Sahel region, the roots are used to treat headaches, while the spines or ashes of this species are applied to snake bites. Boiled leaves are applied to various surface wounds, and also have antihelminthic and anti-diarrhetic properties. In Egypt and the southern Sahara, a narcotic beverage is made from the fruits and which is considered to be a tranquilliser and sedative. In Morocco, the fruits are used as an emollient and astringent agent. It also is reputed to reduce abscesses and boils while a cataplasm of young leaves is also used to reduce eye inflammations. |
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