Agroforestree Database

Local names:
 English (magic gwarra), Luganda (nsikizi), Swahili (mdaa), Tswana (motlhakola), Zulu (umhlangula)

Euclea divinorum is a shrub or small tree up to about 6 m tall, often branching from the base or sometimes with a single stem. Bark grey, fairly smooth in young trees but fissured in older specimens. Crown much branched and grey-green in colour.

Leaves simple, coriaceus, lanceolate, margins wavy, sub-opposite or alternate, 3.5-9 cm long and 1-2.5 cm wide. Upper surfaces light green or grey green, sometimes with a yellowish tinge, lower surface pale and smoother in texture. Nerves visible as fine lines and midrib raised below.

Flowers small, cup-shaped and creamy in colour borne on a short dense head, flowers and inflorescence covered with tiny, rusty-brown dots. Male and female flowers on separate trees.

Fruit a round, thinly fleshed berry, usually 1-seeded, purple when ripe.

The botanical author of the species, William Phillip Hiern noted the popular use of the plant by diviners and thus coined the specific epithet divinorum for it.

Ecology

E. divinorum is a species common in bush, dry forest margins, thornscrub and open woodlands. It is usually associated with Acacia spp. and also grows on anthills and river banks in hot dry areas below 900 m. Inter-specific competition between E. divinorum and A. nilotica leads to conversion of open grasslands to densely vegetated woodlands. The successional dynamics of Acacia-Euclea savannahs appear to depend on the browsing of A. nilotica and other Acacia spp. by large mammals especially elephants.

Native range
Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe

Tree management

The plant has remarkable coppicing and root suckering ability and if not checked, tends to weediness, dominating pasture to the detriment of wildlife and pastoralism. Use of arboricides is recommended in weedy situations.

E. divinorum is a species common in bush, dry forest margins, thornscrub and open woodlands. It is usually associated with Acacia spp. and also grows on anthills and river banks in hot dry areas below 900 m. Inter-specific competition between E. divinorum and A. nilotica leads to conversion of open grasslands to densely vegetated woodlands. The successional dynamics of Acacia-Euclea savannahs appear to depend on the browsing of A. nilotica and other Acacia spp. by large mammals especially elephants.

Direct seeding and wildings can be used to propagate the plant.

Poison:  Tannic and gallic acid extracts in this plant may contain sufficient amounts of inhibitory constituents to interfere with the virulence and growth of enamel cavity causing bacteria in vivo.

Because of its tolerance of high arsenic soil levels E. divinorum can be used in reclamation of gold mine pit wastes.

Erosion control:  The species is important in protecting soil.

  The fruits are edible. In East Africa the bark is used in the preparation of fatty-meat and milk soups. The roots are chewed to impart a red colour to the mouth.

The leaves are browsed by wild animals such as the rhino, giraffe and grey duiker.

Branches used as firewood in some East African localities.

Shade or shelter:  The plant is a good shade tree.

Tannin or dyestuff:  The bark is rich in phenolics (123 mg/g) and tannins(94 mg/g). The bark extract is used in dyeing baskets woven from Hyphaene petersiana (mokola palm) leaves. Leather produced from E. divinorum has a deep red colour that provides an aesthetically pleasing alternative to black wattle and other available barks. The root is used in the production of black floor mats. In Ovamboland a purple ink is made by boiling the fruit.

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.

Alcohol:  The fruit is used in making beer.

Other services:  In South Africa the tree is used to repel witches and other evil, the branches are hung above entrances into huts and kraals.