Medicinal Monday:
Albizia
anthelmintica
Worm-cure
Albizia
DESCRIPTION:
Deciduous shrub or small, multi-stemmed tree.
Branchlets often spine-tipped. Leaves with 2-4 pairs of pinnae; rhachis ending
in a hook-like extension; leaflets in 2-4 pairs per pinna, obovate to almost
circular; petiole with a gland about midway. Flowers in fluffy, semi-spherical
heads, creamy-white, appearing before the leaves. Pods flattened, pale brown.
Shrub or tree to 10 m high, crown often somewhat rounded. Bark grey to reddish-brown, smooth; young branchlets shortly pubescent or glabrous, lenticellate, often forming abbreviated divaricate spine-tipped lateral shoots. Leaves glabrous to shortly pubescent: petiole 0.5-2 cm long, a small gland usually present midway along the petiole or just below the junction of the lowest pinna pair; rhachis 0-3.5 cm long, usually terminating in a short rigid persistent defiexed hook, a small gland often present near the junction of the top pinna pair; pinnae 1-3(4) pairs; rhachillae 1.5-5 cm long, usually terminating in a short rigid persistent defiexed hook, often a single stipel similarly bent near the base; leaflets (1)2-4(6) pairs, (5)8-25(30) x 4-18(24) mm , obliquely obovate or elliptic to sub-rotund, mucronate apically, venose, glabrous or sparingly pubescent beneath, especially on the midrib and lateral nerves. Inflorescences globose; peduncles 1-3 cm long, glabrous or sparingly pubescent.
Bush or tree 2-9(12) m high, deciduous; bark smooth, grey to brown; young branchlets glabrous or sometimes shortly pubescent; twigs often with short divaricate almost spinescent-tipped lateral branches. Leaves: rhachides of leaves and pinnae glabrous to shortly pubescent, in all or most leaves projecting at the ends in a short rigid persistent deflexed or downwards-bent hook or claw; often a single stipel similarly bent near the base of the pinnae; pinnae 1-2(4) pairs; leaflets 1-4(5) pairs (7)10-36(42) x (4)6-31 mm, obliquely obovate or elliptic to subcircular, mucronate at the apex, venose, glabrous to sparsely shortly pubescent. Flowers usually on leafless twigs, on pedicels 0.5-5.5 mm long. Calyx pale-greenish, (very rarely 2)3-5 mm long, glabrous to sparsely finely pubescent outside, irregularly denticulate at the apex and usually slit unilaterally to c. 1-2.5 mm. Corolla pale-greenish, 6-12 mm long, glabrous, or puberulous on or near the lobe-margins. Staminal tube not or scarcely exserted beyond the corolla; filaments c. 1.5-2.5 cm long, white. Pod dehiscent, (6)7-18 x 1.5-2.9 cm, oblong, quite glabrous or occasionally puberulous all over, straw-coloured when mature. Seeds 9-13 mm in diam., flattened, round.
USES: In Namibia the bark is regarded as an anthelmintic, especially against Tape-worms, and has for long been used in a similar way in Ethiopia and Somalia, pockets of Zimbabwe; hence the specific scientific name. Extensive tests carried out in controlled conditions have shown that the bark is, in fact, effective against infestation; in a powdered form it seems to be more successful than as decoction, and treatment has produced no unpleasant side-effects.
Shrub or tree to 10 m high, crown often somewhat rounded. Bark grey to reddish-brown, smooth; young branchlets shortly pubescent or glabrous, lenticellate, often forming abbreviated divaricate spine-tipped lateral shoots. Leaves glabrous to shortly pubescent: petiole 0.5-2 cm long, a small gland usually present midway along the petiole or just below the junction of the lowest pinna pair; rhachis 0-3.5 cm long, usually terminating in a short rigid persistent defiexed hook, a small gland often present near the junction of the top pinna pair; pinnae 1-3(4) pairs; rhachillae 1.5-5 cm long, usually terminating in a short rigid persistent defiexed hook, often a single stipel similarly bent near the base; leaflets (1)2-4(6) pairs, (5)8-25(30) x 4-18(24) mm , obliquely obovate or elliptic to sub-rotund, mucronate apically, venose, glabrous or sparingly pubescent beneath, especially on the midrib and lateral nerves. Inflorescences globose; peduncles 1-3 cm long, glabrous or sparingly pubescent.
Bush or tree 2-9(12) m high, deciduous; bark smooth, grey to brown; young branchlets glabrous or sometimes shortly pubescent; twigs often with short divaricate almost spinescent-tipped lateral branches. Leaves: rhachides of leaves and pinnae glabrous to shortly pubescent, in all or most leaves projecting at the ends in a short rigid persistent deflexed or downwards-bent hook or claw; often a single stipel similarly bent near the base of the pinnae; pinnae 1-2(4) pairs; leaflets 1-4(5) pairs (7)10-36(42) x (4)6-31 mm, obliquely obovate or elliptic to subcircular, mucronate at the apex, venose, glabrous to sparsely shortly pubescent. Flowers usually on leafless twigs, on pedicels 0.5-5.5 mm long. Calyx pale-greenish, (very rarely 2)3-5 mm long, glabrous to sparsely finely pubescent outside, irregularly denticulate at the apex and usually slit unilaterally to c. 1-2.5 mm. Corolla pale-greenish, 6-12 mm long, glabrous, or puberulous on or near the lobe-margins. Staminal tube not or scarcely exserted beyond the corolla; filaments c. 1.5-2.5 cm long, white. Pod dehiscent, (6)7-18 x 1.5-2.9 cm, oblong, quite glabrous or occasionally puberulous all over, straw-coloured when mature. Seeds 9-13 mm in diam., flattened, round.
USES: In Namibia the bark is regarded as an anthelmintic, especially against Tape-worms, and has for long been used in a similar way in Ethiopia and Somalia, pockets of Zimbabwe; hence the specific scientific name. Extensive tests carried out in controlled conditions have shown that the bark is, in fact, effective against infestation; in a powdered form it seems to be more successful than as decoction, and treatment has produced no unpleasant side-effects.
Guides
& Rangers do not recommend using any of the plants mentioned for medicinal
purposes, without seeking expert medical advice.
Journals
consulted: Trees of Southern Africa by Keith Coates Palgrave
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