Description

This item is from "Some Common Medicinal And Poisonous Plants Used In Ethiopian Folk Medicine" work, by Amare Getahun.

Meliaceae

Melia azedarach L.

nib (T, Arabic)

This is a handsome tree with lilac-blue flowers. The shrub or tree seems to have been recently introduced to Ethiopia but has already established itself as a roadside tree in several lowland towns.

It is also sometimes seen as a backyard tree in villages. The tree is native to Asia, but is now naturalized in Ethiopia.

In Harar (Eastern Ethiopia) it is known as a tree of many remedies though these were not specified to me at the time. The remedies depend on the plant part used.

According to William (1955) the bark contains a bitter alkaloid, margosine, a bitter amorphous resin, margosic acid and tannic acid.

Trichillia emetica Vahl

(= T. roka (Forsk.) Chiov. )

kota, gmmeh (T)

yahy (Som)

roka (Arabic)

Medium-sized handsome evergreen tree 3-20 m. tall with a wide crown particularly when growing in the open; bark is dark grey or dark brown, rough or smooth, foliage is very dark green, glossy. The trees are usually found in flood plains or river edges from 700 to 1700 m in altitude.

Oil from the seeds is used for cooking, soap-making, and as a hair oil. The seed is edible.

An infusion of the root is drunk to facilitate labor in pregnancy.

The plant is reportedly used against malaria.

Note: The tree should make a good shade tree if planted in towns.

 

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herbs, medical, medicinal, poisonous, plant, folk medicine, ethiopia