Euphorbiaceae FAMILY
Excoecaria grahamii
Excoecaria grahamii
Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
2/5
Safety & Hazards
The whole plant is very poisonous[1]. The root is sometimes an ingredient of an arrow-poison intended for hunting, but probably not for warlike activity[1]. The plant is added as bait to kill pestilential wild animals. It is said to be immediately fatal to pigs[1]. It has been used by the Hausa with criminal intent in food[1]. The plant extract is very dangerous to the eyes[1]. The plant is so toxic that local people recommend the precaution of washing the hands even after only touching the plant[1].
Cultivation Details
HabitPerennial
Growth—
Not known
Propagation
Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Excoecaria+grahamii>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. — Burkil. H. M. · Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. · 1985 - 2004 ↩︎Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
- [2]African Flowering Plants Database — Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques. · http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php ↩︎Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
- [3]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.