Landolphia heudelotii

Botanical Description

Landolphia heudelotii is a bushy or climbing shrub that can produce stems up to 15 metres long[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description 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/ ]. The plant is highly valued for its fruit, which is gathered from the wild and often sold in local markets[ 323 Title Lost Crops of Africa. Vol. 3 Fruits. Publication Author Publisher National Academy Press Year 2008 ISBN 030910596X Description Masses of information on about 70 species of plants that have been utilized as fruits in Africa. ]. This species was at one time the main rubber supplier to Senegal, Guinea, and the French Sudan (modern Mali). Some of its rubber even reached Europe[ 323 Title Lost Crops of Africa. Vol. 3 Fruits. Publication Author Publisher National Academy Press Year 2008 ISBN 030910596X Description Masses of information on about 70 species of plants that have been utilized as fruits in Africa. ]. The plants were so heavily over-exploited that, towards the end of the 19th century the wild population had dropped dramatically and local farmers were encouraged to cultivate the plant in gardens and farms[ 323 Title Lost Crops of Africa. Vol. 3 Fruits. Publication Author Publisher National Academy Press Year 2008 ISBN 030910596X Description Masses of information on about 70 species of plants that have been utilized as fruits in Africa. ]. Demand for the rubber from this plant is now almost non-existent, apart from various local uses, because most rubber is tapped from the S. American Hevea brasiliensis or is synthesised[ 323 Title Lost Crops of Africa. Vol. 3 Fruits. Publication Author Publisher National Academy Press Year 2008 ISBN 030910596X Description Masses of information on about 70 species of plants that have been utilized as fruits in Africa. ].