Adenia digitata
Adenia digitata
Safety & Hazards
The whole plant is deadly poisonous. The tuber contains cyanogenic glycosides, mainly tetraphyllin B (barterioside), and the very potent toxin modeccin, a toxalbumin, which inhibits protein synthesis in vitro[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The fruit has been used for committing homicide; it is also eaten or a root extract is drunk as a suicide poison[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. Accidental poisoning mainly occurs when the root is mistaken for edible tubers, particularly those of Coccinia species[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. Children are often poisoned as a result of eating the attractive fruit[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].
Botanical Description
Adenia digitata is a perennial climbing plant producing annual stems up to 3 metres long from a tuber that can be 60cm in diameter. The stems scramble over the ground and climb into the surrounding vegetation, attaching themselves by means of tendrils[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. Although highly poisonous, the plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local medicinal use. Because of its impressive tuber, which can be partly above ground, it is cultivated as an ornamental worldwide[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].