Cussonia arborea

Botanical Description

Cussonia arborea is a deciduous tree sometimes growing up to 13 metres tall. The bole is crooked and can be up to 100cm in diameter with a very thick, corky bark[ 328 Title African Flowering Plants Database Publication Author Website http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php Publisher Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques. Year 0 ISBN Description Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map. , 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/ , 610 Title Flora of Tropical East Africa Publication Author Beentje H.J. Website http://plants.jstor.org/search?st=396814 Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 2002 ISBN Description Available on-line, a modern flora of East Africa. ]. The tree becomes completely defoliated during the dry season, and the thick stumpy branches sticking up into the sky, which resemble amputated and deformed limbs, invoke various common names in Africa such as ‘stump of an amputated limb'; 'cut hand' and 'leper’s hand'[ 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 harvested from the wild for local use, mainly as a medicine but also as a source of gum, wood, potash and ink.