Entry for Gongronema latifolium Benth. [family ]
Entry From
Burkill, H.M. 1985. The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vol 1
Common names
SENEGAL: SERER gasub (JLT) SIERRA LEONE: KISSI n-dondo-polole (FCD) KRIO rope quiah (L-P) MENDE buli-yeyakσ, nyiya yeyakσ (def.-i) the leaves, from ngeyakσ: a creeper (FWHM; FCD) tawa-bembe(-i) the leaves, from bembe: to encircle, as of a creeper (FWHM; FCD) yσnigbagbσi the leaves, from gbσle: drink (auctt.) TEMNE ra-bilong (FCD) GHANA: AKAN-ASANTE aborode-aborode (FRI) akam? (FRI) kurutu (FRI) nsurogya = does not fear fire, a general name (FRI) NIGERIA: IGBO utazi (BNO) YORUBA arọ́kẹ́kẹ́ (IFE)
Uses
leaf Food: general stem Medicines: pain-killers stem fruit Medicines: laxatives, etc. stem Medicines: vermifuges bark Products: exudations-gums, resins, etc. stem Products: household, domestic and personal items leaf stem Social: religion, superstitions, magic leaf stem Social: sayings, aphorisms
Description
A climber from a tuberous base, of deciduous and secondary forests from Guinea-Bissau to W Cameroons, and widely dispersed elsewhere in tropical Africa.The stems are soft and pliable. They are used in Sierra Leone as chew-sticks (2), and cut up and boiled with lime juice (2), or infused in water over three days (3), the liquor is taken as a purge for colic and stomach-pains, and symptoms connected with worm-infection (1). The infusion is taken as a cleansing purge by Mohammedans during Ramadan (3). It is given to a newborn baby in the Joru area of Sierra Leone to make it grow rapidly (4). In Ghana the leaves are rubbed on the joints of small children to help them to walk (5), and in S Nigeria the leaves serve as a vegetable (7, 8).The bark contains a quantity of latex and though it has been viewed with potential interest for its rubber (10), it has apparently never been exploited. A closely related species M. reichenbachii Triana in Ecuador and Columbia is the source of cundurango bark containing glycosides cundurangin and cundurit and from which cundurago wine is prepared. This is used as an aromatic bitter and stimulant in treatment of dyspepsia (9, 11, 12). The bark of G. latifolium merits examination as an official dyspeptic.In Ghana the boiled fruits are put into soup as a laxative (6).
References
References:1. Dalziel, 1937. 2. Deighton 681, K. 3. Deighton 2428, K. 4. Herbalists, Joru village, Sierra Leone, 1973. 5. Irvine 506, K. 6. Irvine, 1961: 650. 7. Latilo al. FHI 34985, K. 8. Lowe 407, UCI. 9. Oliver, 1960: 30, 42, 70–71. 10. Schlechter, 1900. 11. Uphof, 1968: 333. 12. Usher, 1974: 380.