Phyllanthaceae FAMILY

Hymenocardia acida

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

3/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Shrub

Growth—

A tree of the tropics, found at elevations of 500 - 1,200 metres, growing in areas that experience a long dry season^[1]. Succeeds on sandy, loam and clayey soils^[1]. Trees respond well to coppicing^[2]. The tree is a host for the fungus Coniella diplodiella, which causes white rot of grapes (Vitis vinifera)^[2]. A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Propagation

Seed - remove the wings from the seed and soak in cold water for 48 hours prior to sowing^[2]. Seeds can be sown in situ^[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Hymenocardia+acida>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
[2]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.
[3]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.
[4]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/