Alchornea Laxiflora

Alchornea laxiflora.jpg

NAME:  Alchornea laxiflora

FAMILY: Euphorbiaceae

COMMON NAMES: Three-veined bead string, Lowveld bead-string

LOCAL NAMES: Pepe, Ijan, uwenuwen, ububo, longoso

USEFUL PART(s):  Stem, roots, leaves

GENERAL USES:

  •  Leaves are used as wrapping and keeping material from destroying

  • Tender branches are used as chewing sticks for cleaning the teeth

  • Stems can be used as fence poles and also in making household and domestic items

 

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

  • Nigeria

  • Ethiopia

  • Congo

  • Zimbabwe

  • Mozambique

  • South Africa

  • Swaziland.

WHY IS IT GREEN?

 Alchornea laxiflora medicinal values include:

  • Hernia

  • venereal diseases

  • Emmenagogue

  • Ring worm

  • Inflammatory diseases

  • Malaria

  • Pain relief

FUNFUL FACT

  • Alchornea laxiflora is a deciduous, upright small tree about 7–10 m tall and common in evergreen forests.

  • The flowers are unisexual and the fruits are even, dark green, brown, slightly hairy and has 3 seeds

FURTHER READINGS

Akinpelu, D. A., Abioye, E. O., Aiyegoro, O. A., Akinpelu, O. F., & Okoh, A. I. (2015). Evaluation of antibacterial and antifungal properties of alchornea laxiflora (Benth.) Pax. & Hoffman. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/684839

Bafor, E. E., Eyohan, S. E., Omoruyi, O., Elvis-Offiah, U. B., Ayinde, B., Eze, G. I., … Braimoh, K. P. (2015). Preliminary endocrinological, histological and haematological investigation of Alchornea laxiflora (Euphorbiaceae) leaf extract effects on the ovary, uterus and cervix of mouse models. J Sci Pract Pharm December, 2(1), 55–63.

Kingsley, O., Esosa, U. S., Georgina, E. O., Sunday, J. J., & Spencer, N. C. O. (2013). Possible Reversal of Sodium Arsenate-induced Liver Toxicity by Hexane Leaf Extract of Alchornea laxiflora. Asian Journal of Medical Sciences, 5(1), 3–8.

Okokon, J. E., Augustine, N. B., & Mohanakrishnan, D. (2017). Antimalarial, antiplasmodial and analgesic activities of root extract of Alchornea laxiflora. Pharmaceutical Biology, 55(1), 1022–1031. https://doi.org/10.1080/13880209.2017.1285947

Olajire, A. A., Adeyeye, G. O., & Yusuf, R. A. (2017). Alchornea laxiflora Bark Extract Assisted Green Synthesis of Platinum Nanoparticles for Oxidative Desulphurization of Model Oil. Journal of Cluster Science, 28(3), 1565–1578. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10876-017-1167-3

Sandjo, L. P., Poumale, H. M. P., Noudou, X. S., Ntede, H. N., Shiono, Y., Ngadjui, B. T., … Mbafor, J. T. (2011). Erratum: Two new fatty acid derivatives from the stem bark of Alchornea laxiflora (Euphorbiaceae) (JAOCS, Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society DOI: 10.1007/s11746-011-1770-7). JAOCS, Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-011-1890-0

Tchinda, C. F., Voukeng, I. K., Beng, V. P., & Kuete, V. (2017). Antibacterial activities of the methanol extracts of Albizia adianthifolia, Alchornea laxiflora, Laportea ovalifolia and three other Cameroonian plants against multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 24(4), 950–955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2016.01.033