Find Me A Cure

Botanical Name: Dalbergia hupeana
Family: Fabaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Fabales
Genus: Dalbergia
Species: D. latifolia

Synonyms:
*Dalbergia latifolia
*Dalbergia emarginata

Common Names:

Habitat: Dalbergia hupeana is native to E Asia.
CHINA: Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shandong, Shanxi. Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang; Laos; Vietnam. It is found in forested areas on mountain slopes, in ravines and along streams, between 800 and 1400 m asl.

Description:
Dalbergia hupeana is a deciduous tree that can grow from 10 – 20 metres tall. The bole can be in excess of 55cm in diameter. Bark is very shaggy, dull grey. Branchlets pale green, glabrous. Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets 7–11, elliptic to oblong, 3.5–6 × 2.5–4 cm, sub-leathery, upper surface shiny, margins entire, apex obtuse or slightly emarginate. Panicles terminal, sometimes also in the upper leaf axils, 15–20 × 10–20 cm; sparsely covered with rusty pubescence. Flowers white or pale purple; calyx campanulate, 0.2–0.3 cm long; standard petal circular, emarginate, wing petals obovate and half-moon shaped, keel petals auriculate; stamens 10, in two bundles of five. Lomentum oblong to broadly ligulate, 4–7 × 1.3–1.5 cm, thinly leathery, containing one to two (to three) seeds; seeds kidney-shaped. Flowering May to July, fruiting September to October (China). Chen & Nielsen 2006.

.Cultivation:
Dalbergia hupeana is a somewhat cold-hardy tree, tolerating temperatures down to around -10 to -15°c when dormant. It has been little cultivated outside its native range, but is growing well at several Arboreta in the eastern states of USA. It seems to appreciate hot, humid summers and moderately cold winters.

The plant is usually very late coming into leaf, often not even swelling its buds until early summer and, indeed, looking completely dead at this time.

Propagation:
Seed. Like many species within the family Fabaceae, once they have been dried for storage the seeds of this species may benefit from scarification before sowing in order to speed up and improve germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 – 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen – if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing.

Edible Uses:
Perhaps leaves were eaten. Probably only in times of shortage when better foods were not available. Inner bark. A famine food. It is considered to be slightly poisonous, but mixed with elm bark (Ulmus species) and pulverized, it may be used as a food in times of famine.

Medicinal Uses:
The leaves are antiphlogistic, parasiticide. The leaves are used to treat traumatic injuries, abscesses and boils. They are crushed and applied topically as a powder or as a wash when mixed with water – as well as killing parasites the wash is used to resolve bruises, break up blood clots and reduce swellings.

The bark of both trunk and root is used in medicine. It is considered to be slightly poisonous, but is used as an external application (presumably in the form of a poultice) to treat scabies and parasitic skin diseases.

Other Uses:
The leaves are used as an insecticide.
To kill maggots, the leaves are crushed into a fine powder then thrown into the excreta. This seems to suggest that the application is to kill maggots living in human and other animal faeces.

The wood is close-grained, hard, durable, very strong. Of excellent quality, it is used to make oil presses, spokes, tool handles etc.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalbergia
http://temperate.theferns.info/plant/Dalbergia+hupeana
https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Dalbergia+hupeana
http://treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/dalbergia/dalbergia-hupeana/

Botanical Name: Dalbergia greveana
Family: Fabaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Fabales
Genus: Dalbergia
Species: D. greveana

Synonyms:
*Dalbergia ambongoensis Baill.
*Dalbergia eurybothrya Drake
*Dalbergia ikopensis Jum.
*Dalbergia isaloensis R.Vig.
*Dalbergia myriabotrys Baker
*Dalbergia perrieri Jum

Common Names: Madagascar Rosewood

Vernacular names:
*French rosewood, Madagascar rosewood (En).
*Palissandre violet, palissandre de Madagascar (Fr).

Habitat:Dalbergia greveana is native to Africa – western Madagascar. It is usually found in deciduous, seasonally dry forest and woodland, it is sometimes found as a shrub in grassland, at elevations up to 800 metres. It can be found on various soils, from sandy to limestone-derived and ferrallitic.

Description:
Dalbergia greveana is a deciduous small to medium-sized tree up to 15(–20) m tall; bole often short and crooked, up to 50 cm in diameter; bark whitish to blackish grey, smooth to rough; young branches glabrous. The leaves are arranged spirally, imparipinnately compound with 7–9(–11) leaflets; stipules small, caducous; petiole and rachis slightly hairy to glabrous; petiolules 3–8 mm long; leaflets alternate, ovate to elliptical or almost circular, (2–)2.5–6 cm × (0.5–)1.5–3 cm, thinly leathery, minutely hairy to glabrous below. Inflorescence a terminal or axillary panicle 5–15 (–20) cm long, with slightly coiled final divisions, hairy; bracts persistent. It’s flowers are bisexual, papilionaceous, 3–4.5 mm long; pedicel c. 0.5(–1.5) mm long; calyx campanulate, 2–3 mm long, lobes shorter than tube, lower lobe slightly longer, upper lobes fused; corolla whitish becoming cream-coloured, with broadly obovate to violin-shaped standard and clawed wings and keel; stamens 10, fused into a tube, but free in upper part; ovary superior, with distinct stipe at base, style short. The fruit is a flat, elliptical to rhombic pod 3–6.5 cm × 1–2.5 cm, with short stipe 4–5 mm long, yellowish brown, indehiscent, usually 1-seeded. And the seeds are kidney-shaped, c. 8 mm × 4 mm, and color is reddish brown.

Medicinal Uses:
Pieces of branches are rubbed on stones with water to produce a paste which is applied to the face as a medicine against various ailments. Dichloromethane and methanolic extracts of Dalbergia greveana bark showed activity against gram-positive bacteria.

Other Uses:
The wood is one of the so-called rosewoods (‘Madagascar rosewood’, ‘palisander’), which are much in demand for cabinet making, furniture, marquetry and parquet flooring. It is one of the favoured woods for musical instruments, not only because of its beautiful colour and venation, but also because of its clearness of tone. It is also suitable for interior trim, joinery, ship and boat building, vehicle bodies, poles and piles, precision equipment, carvings, toys and novelties, sporting goods, handles, ladders, turnery, pattern making, veneer and plywood. The wood is used locally in Madagascar, e.g. for construction and paddles and as firewood. The Mikea people of south-western Madagascar rub pieces of branches on stones with water to produce a paste which is applied to the face as a medicine against various ailments; Dalbergia greveana is a sacred tree for these people.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalbergia_greveana
https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Dalbergia+greveana
https://uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Dalbergia_greveana_(PROTA)

Botanical Name: Dactyladenia barteri
Family: Chrysobalanaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Malpighiales
Genus: Dactyladenia

Synonyms:
*Griffonia barteri Hook.f. ex Oliv. (1871),
*Acioa barteri (Hook.f. ex Oliv.) Engl. (1899).

Common Names: Monkey Fruit

Habitat: Dactyladenia barteri is native to Western tropical Africa – Sierra Leone to Nigeria, south to Gabon and Congo. It grows on lowland forest with at least 1,200mm rainfall per year. In the forest-savannah transition zone, it is found along riverbanks, sometimes on the inland side of mangrove forest.

Description:
Dactyladenia barteri is a climbing shrub or small tree, up to 12 m tall; bole fluted, often multiple, crooked, up to 25(–40) cm in diameter; bark brittle, slash thin and watery-white, turning reddish; crown dense, spreading; young shoots dark red, covered with whitish, arachnoid tomentum, early caducous; branches more or less scandent, slender, hispid, very quickly glabrescent when young, with numerous lenticels when old. Leaves alternate, simple; stipules often attached near the base of the petiole, linear, 4–6 mm long; petiole 3–4 mm long; blade elliptical-oblong to ovate, 7–13(–15) cm × 3–5.5(–7) cm, base acuminate, sometimes broadly acuminate and somewhat asymmetrical, apex acuminate, dark glossy green, turning reddish-brown when senescent, lateral veins in 4–6 pairs, some circular glands often present on the underside of the blade near the base and the apex. Inflorescence a terminal or axillary raceme, single or sometimes in pairs, 3–4(–12) cm long, puberulous, many flowered; peduncle up to 1(–4) cm long; bracts elliptical-lanceolate, 2–4 mm long, tricuspidate, often with circular glands; flowers bisexual, zygomorphic; pedicel articulated, portion below articulation 6–10 mm long, long persistent, bearing 2 alternate, lanceolate bracteoles 1–1.5 mm long, upper portion 5–15 mm long; receptacle tubular, 4–6 mm long, puberulous; sepals 5, 4–5 mm long, puberulous outside; petals 5, oblong-obovoid, 4–5 mm long, white, caducous; stamens 15–20, (15–)25(–30) mm long, ligulately connate for most of their length, far exserted; pistil with 1-locular ovary, a filiform style slightly longer than the stamens, and a 3-lobed stigma. Fruit a single-seeded drupe, compressed-ovoid, 2.5 cm × 3.5 cm × 5.0 cm, green, surface often ferruginous-tomentose, apex often slightly tuberculate. Seedling with epigeal germination.

The root system is deep, but its lateral expansion in the top layer of the soil is limited. On an ultisol in south-eastern Nigeria, for instance, about 50% of the roots of less than 2 mm in diameter occurred in the top 20 cm of the soil near the stem, whereas at a distance of 120 cm from the tree base this percentage dropped sharply. In Nigeria and Ghana, Dactyladenia barteri usually flowers during the dry season, between October and February. Fruits mature at the beginning of the rainy season, between March and May. Dactyladenia barteri is open-pollinated, the main pollinators being red ants, but occasionally bees and wasps have been recorded.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Cultivation:
A plant of the moist, lowland tropics, being found at elevations below 300 metres. It grows in areas where the mean annual temperature is in the range 20 – 34°c, and the mean annual rainfall is 750 – 1,500 mm. Well adapted to leached, acid and infertile (ultisols) soils, the plant can also survive occasional flooding. Established trees coppice well, even after pollarding or burning, and are fire resistant. Planted at 4 metres x 4metres, this species can produce 6 tonnes per hectare dry prunings, 4 tonnes of twigs and 9 tonnes of wood within 8 months[ 303 ]. It has been suggested that Dactyladenia lehmbachii and Dactyladenia pallescens, which flower in the same period, may cross-pollinate with this specie..

Medicinal Uses:
The bark and roots are used medicinally as a purgative and against a variety of ailments. In Liberia, a liquor made from the bark is used as a purgative.

Other Uses:
Agroforestry Uses: The shrubs have an extensive, deep root system that holds the soil and so can be used in schemes to prevent soil erosion. The tree produces large amounts of litter and recycles appreciable quantities of nutrients through its deep root system, whilst its dense canopy aids in weed suppression. It has shown promise as mulch and soil regenerator because of its slow decomposition rate. The stems provide good quality poles for staking yams and for construction. The tree is planted in hedgerows in a traditional alley cropping system with inter-hedgerow spacing of 2 – 3 metres and with 1 – 2 years of cropping followed by 3 – 4 years of fallow. Following the fallow period, the shrubs are underbrushed and burned and stems cut to a height of 10 – 20cm. Some stems are left uncut for live staking of Guinea yam (Dioscorea cayenensis). Crops are then interplanted in the alleys. Other Uses: The dark red wood is hard, durable and resistant to termite attack. The stems provide good quality poles for staking crops and are also used for construction work. The wood is used for fuel.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dactyladenia
https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Dactyladenia+barteri
In Liberia, a liquor made from the bark is used as a purgative.

Botanical Name: Calamus spp.
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Calamoideae
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Arecales
Tribe: Calameae
Genus: Calamus

Synonyms:
*Calamus rotang
*Calamus monoecus Roxb.
*Calamus roxburghii Griff.
*Calamus scipionum Lam.
*Draco rotang Crantz
*Palmijuncus monoecus (Roxb.) Kuntze
*Rotang linnaei Baill.
*Rotanga calamus Crantz

Common Name: Rattan Palm

Habitat: Calamus spp. is native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa, and Australia

Description:
Calamus spp. is a “Solitary or clustering, stemless to high-climbing or erect pleonanthic dioecious rattans; sheaths usually heavily armed with spines, the spines frequently highly organised. Flagellum (sterile inflorescence) often present, borne on the leaf sheath, sometimes absent and replaced by a cirrus at the end of the leaf, very rarely both present or both absent; knee often present; ocrea sometimes well developed, usually inconsicuous. Make and female inflorescences superficially similar, often ending in a long flagellum, sometimes with gradual succession of branches, often with descrete distant branches (partial inflorescences); bracts always tubular at the base, rarely with broad limbs splitting down one side, but if so, then the base always tubular and unsplit, bracts variously armed; partial inflorescences usually much longer than the subtending bract, very rarely shorter, involucre and involucrophore inconspicuous. Male flower with cup-shaped calyx, usually with 3 well defined lobes; corolla split almost to the base into 3 petals; stamens 6, very shortly epipetalous; pistillode minute. Female flower borne together with a sterile male flower as a pair. Sterile male flower like the fertile male, but with empty anthers. Female flower usually larger than the male, with calyx shallowly 3-lobed; corolla with 3 petals; staminodes 6, joined basally to form a ring; ovary tipped with 3 stigmas and covered with reflexed scales; locules 3 with one ovule in each. Fruit variously shaped, covered in reflexed scales. Seed usually one only, very variable in shape, covered in a thin to thick sarcotesta; endosperm homogeneous or ruminate; embryo basal or lateral. Seedling leaf bifid or pinnate”

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Cultivation:
Prefers a moist humus rich soil in shade or semi-shade but succeeds in most soils that are not dry.

Edible Uses:
Leaves – raw or cooked. The seedlings are edible. Dried plants are used as a tea substitute.

Medicinal Uses:
The rhizomes are used medicinally.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calamus_rotang
https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Calamus+spp.
http://www.hear.org/pier/species/calamus_spp.htm

Botanical Name: Caesalpinia gilliesii
Family: Fabaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Fabales
Genus: Erythrostemon
Species: E. gilliesii

Synonyms:
*Erythrostemon gilliesii
*Poinciana gilliesii Wall.

Common Names: Bird Of Paradise, Bird-of-paradise shrub, Bird of paradise bush, Desert bird of paradise, Yellow bird of paradise, and Barba de chivo.

Habitat: Caesalpinia gilliesii is native to Southern South America – Argentina and Uruguay. It grows wild in pastures and dry habitats in Texas.

Description:
Caesalpinia gilliesii is a deciduous Shrub growing to 1–4 m tall, depending on rainfall. . The leaves are bipinnate, 10–15 cm long, bearing 3-10 pairs of pinnae, each with 6-10 pairs of leaflets 5–6 mm long and 2–4 mm broad. It is in flower from July to August. The flowers are borne in racemes up to 20 cm long, each flower with five yellow petals with 10 long conspicuous red stamens. The pods are densely covered in short, red glandular hairs. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Insects. It can fix Nitrogen.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURE

Although it is a tropical plant adapted to dry climate, it also thrives in the climate of Avsa and neighboring islands in the south of Sea of Marmara in northwestern Turkey, where it is commonly known as Pa?ab?y??? (Pasabiyigi), Cennetku?u a?ac? (Cennetkusu agaci), which in Turkish means “bird of paradise tree,” and Bodurakasya, which means “dwarf acacia”. This species is also fairly common in the Karoo of South Africa.

Cultivation:
Requires a sunny position, succeeding in any moderately fertile well-drained soil including limy soils. This species is on the borderline of hardiness in Britain. It can tolerate occasional lows down to about -12°c, so long as it is not too wet. It is best grown against a warm, sheltered sunny wall. The plant succeeds against a warm wall at Kew Gardens, where it has grown to a height of 8 metres, it also succeeds in more open conditions on the Isle of Wight]. The plant is often cultivated for its very ornamental, showy flowers. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby.

Medicinal uses:
The seeds are reported to have antitumour activity . Medicine men of peoples indigenous to the Amazon Rainforest used this plant and the similar Caesalpinia pulcherrima, which they called ayoowiri, for curing fever, sores, and cough. Four grams from the root is also said to induce abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. However, the seeds and the green seed pods of this plant are toxic, provoking severe vomiting and other abdominal symptoms.

Known Hazards: The green seed pods are severely irritating to the digestive tract.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Rersources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythrostemon_gilliesii
https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Caesalpinia+gilliesii