Terminalia sambesiaca

Botanical Description

Terminalia sambesiaca is an evergreen tree with a dense crown that is layered with horizontal branches; it can grow up to 40 metres tall. The usually straight, cylindrical bole can be free of branches for up to 18 metres, up to 90cm in diameter, often slightly buttressed, old trees often with bottle-shaped buttresses up to 4 metres high[ 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 tree has been reported to be an excellent timber tree with potential for growing in plantations. The strongly antifungal activity of the root against Cryptococcus neoformans makes the plant a valuable medicinal plant in East and southern Africa, where AIDS-related cryptococcal infections are common. Further investigations on the antimicrobial activity against a panel of bacteria causing serious infections and isolation of the active compounds are warranted. Activity-guided isolation of compounds responsible for the anti-cancer activity of the root extract seems also worthwhile[ 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. ].