Common Name:

General Information

Margaritaria discoidea is a deciduous shrub or tree with a spreading crown; usually growing up to 20 metres tall but with some specimens exceeding 30 metres. The bole is unbuttressed and can be 30cm in diameter[, ].
The tree is harvested from the wild, mainly for local use as a medicine and source of wood. With its spreading crown, it is grown in villages as a shade tree[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Africa - Senegal to Ethiopia, south to Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and northeastern S. Africa.

Habitat

Damper sites of the savannah and closed secondary forests[]. Deciduous woodland, fringing forest, dry evergreen forest, rainforest, and disturbed vegetation at elevations from near sea level to over 2,000 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Tree
Height	20.00 m
Pollinators	Bees, Ants
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

In Tanzania the plant can be found at an elevation of 1,850 metres where the mean annual rainfall is around 850mm and the mean monthly temperature ranges from 17.5°c in January to 13.5°c in June with occasional frosts[].

The flowers are fragrant and are much visited by bees and other insects[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Edible Uses

The fruit is edible[]. The blue, subglobose fruit is up to 13mm wide, containing a single large seed[]. The fruit is a green capsule containing 4 seeds, each of which is covered by a thin layer of flesh[].

The wood-ash yields a vegetable salt[].

The young leaves have occasionally been eaten[].

Medicinal

The bark is anodyne, anthelmintic and purgative[]. A decoction is used for the relief of post-partum pains[]. A bark decoction is used to relieve stomach and kidney complaints and to facilitate parturition[]. Treatment with a bark decoction is said to bring about a more or less prolonged arrest of the menstrual cycle, though conversely it is said to be taken to relieve amenorrhoea[].
The dried and powdered bark is rubbed on the body in the treatment of febrile conditions[]. A bark preparation is rubbed into scarifications in the skin as a stimulant and tonic[]. The bark is used for relieving toothache[]. Bark ash, combined with local salt and palm-oil, is a topical embrocation for lumbar pain - at the moment of application it produces a burning sensation but then brings relief[]. The powdered bark extract is applied to swellings and inflammation[].

The roots are aphrodisiac, purgative and stimulant[]. They are used as chew-sticks, and in this manner also to be aphrodisiac. They are used in the treatment of stomach ache and are commonly applied for treatment of internal troubles, stomach ache, and heart pains[]. Root decoctions are also used as a treatment for schistosomiasis, gonorrhoea and hard abscesses, and, with the leaf-sap added, for malaria[].

A leaf-decoction is taken fin the treatment of blennorrhoea and for poisoning[].
An eye-wash is prepared from a leaf decoction[]. The leaves are said to cure earache, and to be able to stanch wounds. Leaf and twig poultices are applied to ulcers caused by jiggers, and to furuncles and abscesses to hasten maturation. A wash of the decocted leaves is a stimulant in case of general fatigue[].

Many alkaloids have been isolated from this plant, and of them phylochrysine and securinine are the most important. The former is a central nervous system stimulant which may account in part for the plant's stimulatory properties[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is one of the known hosts of the fungus Armillaria heimii, which is the causative fungus of collar-crack disease of cacao. Therefore its presence on cacao plantations as a shade-bearer may not be desirable[].

Other Uses

Both the young stems and the roots are used as chew-sticks for cleaning the teeth, strengthening the gums and maintaining oral hygiene[].

The bark yields about 10% tannin[].

The bark is stringy and fibrous[]. This report does not say that the bark can be used as a source of fibre[].

The heartwood is pinkish-white to brownish-red, the sapwood is yellowish. The wood is hard, heavy, of medium texture, not difficult to work[]. It is not resistant to insects and decay. It can be sawn into planks and used for ordinary building purposes, and is suitable for cabinetry, finishing smoothly and taking a fine polish. It is cut for roof-shingles and is used for boatbuilding as the wood is said to bend ideally after steaming for shaping ribs[].
It is a good firewood, and charcoal is made of it[].

Propagation

Seed -

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