Bridelia ferruginea

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NAME:  Bridelia ferruginea

FAMILY: Euphorbiaceae

COMMON NAMES: Ira

LOCAL NAMES: Ira, ira odan, ira eju,Kirni,Ola,okuk, da-fing saba

USEFUL PART(s): Leaves, bark,roots,fruits

GENERAL USES:

  • The wood is use to make granary

  • It also serves as fuel

  • Liquid from the wood is use for glazing in pottery

  • Extracts from  the plant is use for dyeing clothes

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

  • Niger

  • Nigeria

  • Ghana

  • Sierra Leone

  • Togo

  • Ivory Coast

 

WHY IS IT GREEN?

Bridelia ferruginea medicinal values include

  • Insomnia

  • Antipyretic

  • general care in children

  • diabetes

  • antibacterials

  • dysentery

  • mouth wash

  • gonorrhoea

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

FUN FACT

  • Bridelia ferruginea is a straggly tree about 15 m tall with crooked trunk up to 1.80 m in circumference; the commonest species ranging from Guinea and Mali to S Nigeria, and throughout the wooded savanna regions of Africa.

  • The tree is said to drip water all through the dry season in Sierra Leone and it is fire-resistant.

FURTHER READINGS

Awodele, O., Amagon, K. I., Agbo, J., & Prasad, M. N. V. (2015). Toxicological evaluation of the aqueous stem bark extract of Bridelia ferruginea (Euphorbiaceae) in rodents. Interdisciplinary Toxicology, 8(2), 89–98. https://doi.org/10.1515/intox-2015-0014

Bakoma, B., Berké, B., Eklu-Gadegbeku, K., Agbonon, A., Aklikokou, K., Gbeassor, M., & Moore, N. (2014). Effect of Bridelia ferruginea Benth (Euphorbiaceae) ethyl acetate and acetone fractions on insulin resistance in fructose drinking mice. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 153(3), 896–899. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2014.03.065