Erythrophleum suaveolens
Fabaceae FAMILY

Erythrophleum suaveolens

Erythrophleum suaveolens

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

The bark contains a range of alkaloids. In high doses, the bark extract is an extremely strong, rapid-acting cardiac poison, in warm-blooded animals causing shortness of breath, seizures and cardiac arrest in a few minutes[ 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 the alkaloid content in the seeds is markedly lower than in the stem bark, the seeds are more toxic. This strong activity is due to a strong haemolytic saponin, which acts in a synergistic way to the alkaloids[ 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 bark has been used in arrow poisons and as ordeal poison and the bark and leaves as fish 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. ]. The sawdust may irritate mucous membranes and may cause allergy and asthma of labourers in sawmills[ 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

Erythrophleum suaveolens is a tree; it can grow up to 25 metres tall, with occasional specimens up to 30 metres. The bole, which often branches from low down, can be 60 - 90cm in diameter[ 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. , 848 Title Tropix 7 Publication Author Website http://tropix.cirad.fr/en Publisher CIRAD Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees. ]. A very popular medicinal plant in Africa, it was also at one time exported to Europe[ 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 wood is very durable and is commonly harvested, mainly for trade. Sasswood is also planted as an ornamental and avenue tree[ 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. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical
Native RangeTropical Africa - Sierra Leone to Sudan, south to DR Congo, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
HabitatMoist semi-deciduous forests, gallery forest and wooded grasslands, from sea-level up to elevations of 1,100 metres[ 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. ]. It is absent from the evergreen forest[ 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. ].