Agroforestree Database

Local names:
 English (Sierra Leone peach,pin cushion tree,Guinea peach,African peach), French (liane à fraises), Igbo (ubuluinu), Trade name (opepe)

Sarcocephalus latifolius is a multi-stemmed tree or shrub up to 12 m. It has an open canopy.

Flowers with terminal spherical head-like cymes of small whitish flowers. In Nauclea, the flowers are joined by their calyces.

The fruit is a syncarp.

The tribe Naucleae to which S. latifolius belongs shows similarities to the family Combretaceae. Some authors have seperated the tribe into a new family Naucleceae.

The generic name is derived from the Greek words sarco (fleshy) and cephalus (headed) in reference to the flowers. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin words lati (broad) and folius (leaved).

Ecology

S. latifolius is a savanna shrub sometimes found in undisturbed fringing forest and closed savanna woodland. Three other closely related species, N. pobeguinii, N.diderichii and N. vanderguchtii are forest trees.

Native range
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria

Tree management

The tree’s form factor can be checked by coppicing. The tree is light demanding and should not be planted in extreme shade conditions.

S. latifolius is a savanna shrub sometimes found in undisturbed fringing forest and closed savanna woodland. Three other closely related species, N. pobeguinii, N.diderichii and N. vanderguchtii are forest trees.

Propagation is mainly by direct seeding and cuttings. Germination of digested seeds is significantly improved over that of fresh seeds.

Erosion control:  S. latifolius is a suitable species for conservation and soil stabilization.

  The fleshy fruits of S. latifolius are edible.

Fodder: Livestock eat shoot and leaves of the African peach.

Apiculture:  The flowers provide nectar and pollen to bees.

Opepe wood is a source of firewood.

Timber:  Opepe wood is termite resistant.

Shade or shelter:  Offers shade and acts as a windbreak. 

Tannin or dyestuff:  Opepe bark yields tannins used in dyeing.

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.

The tree is used as a live stake in farms.

Soil improver:  The leaves are used as mulch.