''Funtumia africana'' is a tree within the family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Notable mem ...

, it is one of two species within the genus ''Funtumia''.

Description

Tree can grow up to 30 meters high but usually smaller, trunk is straight, cylindrical and may sometimes have

buttress root Buttress roots, also known as plank roots or stilt roots, are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They may prevent the tree from fa ...

s, smooth bark, greenish-brown to grey in colour with soft - light wood properties. Leaves, simple, opposite arrangement, glabrous, leathery surface, petiole 3 - 15 mm. Leaf-blade, elliptical to ovate in outline, size, 5 x 32 cm long and 1.7 x 17 cm wide, acuminate apex, cuneate at the base; lamina coriaceous, 8 - 14 pairs of lateral veins. Creamy - yellow, fragrant flower, Fruits, grey - brown and usually fusiform shaped,

Distribution

Occurs in the forest zones of

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and Upper Guinea and southwards up to Mozambique.

Chemistry

Contain conanine, a group in a class of steroidal alkaloids.

Traditional use

Latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latices are found in nature, but synthetic latices are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a wikt:milky, milky fluid, which is present in 10% of all floweri ...

used as an ingredient for arrow poison by the Guere people of Ivory Coast, latex extracts obtained from the species can be used to produce

birdlime Birdlime or bird lime is an adhesive substance used in Animal trapping, trapping birds. It is spread on a branch or twig, upon which a bird may land and be caught. Its use is illegal in many jurisdictions. Manufacture Historically, the substanc ...

but useless as a rubber. Other extracts from the species are used to treat burns and incontinence. Wood is used to produce cheap furniture.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3090977 Flora of Mozambique Flora of West Tropical Africa Malouetieae