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Zanthoxylum chalybeum

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Zanthoxylum chalybeum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Zanthoxylum
Species:
Z. chalybeum
Binomial name
Zanthoxylum chalybeum
Engl.

Zanthoxylum chalybeum is an aromatic deciduous shrub or tree within the family Rutaceae. It is also known as the lemon scented knobwood.[1]

Description

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A shrub or tree that can grow up to 12 m in height with a large crown; the trunk is furrowed, has woody knobs and often with recurved prickles, while the bark is pale grey in color.[2] Leaves arepinnately compound with 3-5 pairs of leaflets, glabrous or pubescent, they can reach up to 7 cm long and 3 cm wide, and are elliptic to lanceolate in outline. Inflorescence, anxillary racemes or branched panicles, flowers are yellow-green in color.[3] Fuit is ellipsoid in shape with black seeds.

Distribution

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Commonly found in East Africa from Ethiopia southwards to Mozambique.[2]

Uses

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In parts of Kenya, Uganda and Somalia, a leaf decoction is used for the treatment of diarrhea, throat, stomach and chest pain.[4][2] The leaves are also cooked and eaten as a vegetable or brewed and drunk as tea. Stem bark and root extracts are used in decoctions to treat malaria.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Schultz, Fabien (2021). Ethnopharmacology of medicinal plants traditionally used in the Greater Mpigi region, Uganda (PhD thesis). Technischen Universität Berlin.
  2. ^ a b c d Mwangi, Gladys (2023). Antivenin activity of herbs commonly used in Kenya against dendroaspis polylepis (black mamba) snake bite (PhD thesis). Kenyatta University.
  3. ^ Beentje, Henk (1994). Kenya Trees, Shrubs, and Lianas. National Museums of Kenya. p. 372. ISBN 978-9966-9861-0-8.
  4. ^ India, Jacqueline (2015). Efficacy of some medicinal plants used in various parts of Kenya in treating selected bacterial and fungal pathogens (PhD thesis). Kenyatta University.