Edible Parts: Leaves  Shoots
Edible Uses: Colouring

Leaves and young shoots - cooked as a vegetable, made into soups, or used for other dishes with cassava and yam[299 , 317 ]. A high ascorbic acid content, even after cooking[303 ].

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Antifungal  Antihaemorrhoidal  Antiinflammatory  Astringent  Dysentery  Odontalgic  Parasiticide  Skin  
Vitamin C

The powdered wood, baked with a slice of lime, is used as a dressing on wounds[299 ]. Mixed with palm oil, raffia oil or vegetable butter, it is used to treat skin diseases, ringworm and yaws[299 ]. The bark contains a kino type resin, known as 'dragon's blood'[299 ]. This is very astringent and is used to ward off skin parasites in ethnoveterinary medicine. It is also used, usually in combinations with parts of other plants, as an enema to treat dysentery and against toothache, gonorrhoea and excessive menstruation[299 ]. A bark decoction is drunk to treat dysmenorrhoea, uterine haemorrhage, dysentery and haemorrhoids[299 ]. A pulp obtained by scraping the inner surface of the bark is applied as a wet dressing against inflammations, oedemas, incipient hernia and whitlow[299 ]. Decoctions, draughts or vapour-baths of the leaves and bark are taken against broncho-pulmonary affections[299 ]. In trials, the bark showed antifungal activity against some pathogenic fungi[299 ].

Cosmetic  Dye  Fuel  Furniture  Parasiticide  Wood

Other Uses: A red dye is obtained from the heartwood[317 ]. The source of the so-called true barwood dye, it is used to colour fibres and cloth; in cosmetics and in magical rites and ceremonies[299 , 317 ]. More recently it has been used in Europe as a food colouring for ketchup[317 ]. The dye is combined with tannin-rich plants and a mordant of iron-rich mud to produce the famous 'Kasai velvet' dyes of Zaire[299 ]. A pomade, made by mixing the red wood powder with oil, is used as a body cosmetic[299 ]. The roots can be prepared and used in the same way as the heartwood and yield a dye of equal or better quality[299 ]. Pulverized bark, mixed with palm oil, is also used as a cosmetic pomade[299 ]. Logs are liable to brittle heart. For dye extraction, preferably old and hollow trees are cut from the forest and the heartwood is lumbered out. Often trees are felled and left for 2 - 3 years lying on the forest floor before taking the heartwood for dyeing purposes[299 ]. The roots are also harvested for dye extraction[299 ]. For dye production the heartwood is split into billets and chips which are dried and subsequently pounded into powder. A little oil is added to the pulverized material, which is moulded into cakes for stocking and for local sale[299 ]. The heartwood is bright red when freshly cut, becoming orange-red on exposure and darkening to purple-brown; it is distinctly demarcated from the 6 0 20cm wide band of whitish to brownish yellow sapwood. The grain is straight to interlocked; the texture coarse; the wood has a faint aromatic scent when freshly cut. The wood is moderately heavy to heavy; hard to very hard; very durable being resistant to fungi, Lyctus beetles, termites and marine borers. It seasons somewhat slowly, but with only a slight risk of checking and distortion; once dry it is stable in service. It is moderately difficult to work, having a fairly high blunting effect - stellite-tipped sawteeth and tungsten carbide cutting tools are recommended; it takes a good finish, but sometimes with some tearing of interlocked grain; slicing does not cause problems; nailing and screwing are good, but pre-boring is advisable; gluing properties are good. A valuable multipurpose hardwood, because of its resistance to water it is used locally to make canoes and because of its beautiful reddish colour it is favoured for carving and sculpturing, high class furniture, cabinet making, knife and tool handles, traditional hair combs, walking sticks and musical instruments. The wood has a high resonance quality as its damping of vibrations is low - in the past large telegraph slit drums and war drums, as well as xylophones, have been made from it. It is currently used also for ?Western music? xylophones and increasingly tried for the back and sides of guitars. Because of its high durability the wood is excellent for construction, carpentry, outdoor joinery, flooring, staircases, railway sleepers and boats but also for veneer, inlay, billiard tables, toys, joinery, dowels, shuttles, bobbins, spindles, sporting goods and paddles. As the wood is resistant to marine borers it was used in temperate regions for marine constructions such as piers and sluice gates[299 , 848 ]. The wood is also used as fuel[299 ].

Special Uses

Nitrogen Fixer