Moshi medicine, guier du Senegal
Guiera senegalensis

Family: Combretaceae

What it is like

Guiera senegalensis is an evergreen flowering shrub usually growing 1 - 3 m in height commonly found in tropical Africa. The bark is gray. The branches are softly hairy. The flowers are yellowish green and are in round heads. The leaves are gray-green and oval. The leaves are known as a ?cure-all? and used for the treatment of a wide range of conditions. The twigs are chewed for symptomatic relief of scorpion stings. The roots can be powdered and/or boiled and used for relief from diarrhea and dysentery. The fruits are used for hiccups. The plant is a source of 3,4,5-Tri-O-galloylquinic acid, a hydrolysable tannin classified as a natural product with anti-HIV activity and a DNA polymerase inhibitor. Also, the plant is a pioneer species and is often found growing on very poor and degraded land. The bark produces gum. The thin branches are used for baskets and mats. The roots are used asa chew sticks and toothpicks. The smoke from burning branches repel flies. The wood is commonly used for the framework of wells, bed post, etc.

Guiera senegalensis is an evergreen Shrub growing to 2.5 m (8ft) by 2.5 m (8ft) at a slow rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Height (m): 2.5

Where it is found

(Degraded) savannah, savannah forests, forest on fallow land (abandoned farms); light dry soils, sandy or rocky; at elevations from 945 - 1,020 metres.

Tropical Africa - drier areas from Senegal to Sudan.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Guinea; Mauritania; Central African Republic; Senegal; Nigeria; Sudan; Côte d'Ivoire; Guinea-Bissau; Gambia; Chad; South Sudan; Benin; Niger; Burkina Faso; Mali, Africa, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Nigeria, Sahel, West Africa,

How it is used

Food

Rating: 1

The leaves are also used to curdle milk.

Gum: can be chewed as a chewing gum or can often be used as a sweetener or thickening agent in foods.

Medicine

Rating: 4

The leaves have a high reputation as a 'cure-all' in Africa, where they are used in the treatment of a wide range of conditions. They are most commonly taken in decoctions or are mixed with foods. The bitter tasting leaves are antitussive, appetizer, blood purifier, diuretic, febrifuge, galactagogue, laxative, pectoral and tonic. They are used to treat a wide range of conditions such as: pulmonary and respiratory complaints, including coughs and fevers; digestive tract problems including colic, dysentery and diarrhoea; infectious diseases including syphilis, beriberi and leprosy; and various other conditions such as impotence, rheumatism and oedema. The powdered leaves are mixed with food as a general tonic and blood restorative after any exhausting condition, and especially given to women after childbirth to promote the flow of milk. The leaves are commonly made into an infusion, combined with those of Combretum micranthum, for treating fever, chest and rheumatic conditions, and as a nasal douche for cold in the head. Combined with tamarind pulp, the leaves are held to be a good laxative and appetizer. The plant has a special reputation as a preventive of leprosy and many people drink a cold decoction of the leaves every morning and evening; in particular it is given to the newborn child, and to the child of a leper parent, or when there is the least suspicion of hereditary taint or early symptoms. The dried leaves are smoked in a pipe and the smoke is blown through the nose as a remedy for colds. They are mixed with tobacco for smoking as a treatment for coughs and respiratory trouble. The powdered leaves are added to a snuff taken for headache and sinusitis. The leaves are applied externally to bring healing to the body - they are considered antiseptic and vulnerary. They are applied to wounds, sores in the mouth, syphilitic chancres and phagadenic ulcers. The leaves are applied to skin infections and in poultices on inflammatory swellings and for guinea-worm; they have been applied to tumours to maturate them and as a treatment for skin-diseases. A leaf-decoction is used as a body-wash and for bathing new-born babies. The fruit and leaves are common ingredients in more or less ceremonial prescriptions for strengthening and preventing disease in young children. The twigs are chewed for symptomatic relief of scorpion stings. The powdered and boiled roots are considered a remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery. The fruits, baked and reduced to a powder with salt added to mask the bitter taste, are considered a sovereign cure for hiccups. Leafy stems have been found to contain traces of alkaloids and tannins. Ash of the roots and leaves appear to be particularly rich in magnesium, calcium, strontium, titanium, iron and aluminium. Pharmacologically the plant has positive action on coughs, is hypotensive, antidiarrhetic and anti-inflammatory.

Antidiarrhoeal: Provides symptomatic relief for diarrhoea. Also see Astringent.

Antiinflammatory: Reduces inflammation of joints, injuries etc.

Antirheumatic: Treats rheumatism.

Antiseptic: Preventing sepsis, decay or putrefaction, it destroys or arrests the growth of micro-organisms.

Antitussive: Prevents or relieves coughing.

Appetizer: Improves the appetite

Blood purifier: Purifies the blood.

Diuretic: Acts on the kidneys, promoting the flow of urine.

Dysentery: Used in treating dysentery - an infection of the intestines that causes diarrhoea containing blood or mucus.

Febrifuge: Reduces fevers.

Galactogogue: Promotes the flow of milk in a nursing mother.

Hypotensive: Reduces blood pressure, it is used in the treatment of high blood pressure

Laxative: Stimulates bowel movements in a fairly gentle manner.

Leprosy: Used to treat leprosy - a chronic bacterial infection of the skin and superficial nerves (in the skin) caused by Mycobacterium leprae.

Pectoral: Relieves respiratory diseases, a remedy for chest diseases.

Poultice: A moist, usually warm or hot, mass of plant material applied to the skin in the treatment of burns etc.

Skin: Plants used in miscellaneous treatments for the skin.

Tonic: Improves general health. Slower acting than a stimulant, it brings steady improvement.

Vulnerary: Promotes the healing of wounds.

Other

Rating: 4

Agroforestry Uses: A typical pioneer species, the seed is spread by grazing animals and the plant grows especially well where the soil has become impoverished. It is capable of colonizing tracts of land, which might otherwise be bare, to form pure stands. Restriction of the plant's spread is recommended in Senegal to improve the quality of Sahel pasturage. The plant is often found growing on very poor and degraded land - it is seen as an indicator of overgrazed land. Other Uses: The bark yields a gum which is marketed. The thin branches are used for plaiting work when making baskets, for mats that are used for sand stabilization, and for fencing material. The roots are commonly split and used as chew-sticks and tooth-picks. The smoke from burning branches repels flies. The wood is whitish or tinged red, coarse-grained, knotted and short, but very hard. It used for the framework of wells, bed-posts, etc. The shrub is commonly cut to fence farms. The branches, and particularly the roots, are considered to be a good fuel.

Basketry: Plant used in making baskets and other items such as chairs. Includes plants that are only used as an ornamental addition.

Fencing: Plants that can be used for fencing.

Fuel: Usually wood, plant materials that have been mentioned as being a good fuel.

Gum: Gums have a wide range of uses, especially as stabilizers, emulsifiers, thickening agents, adhesives etc.

Pioneer: Plants, usually trees and shrubs, that can be used to reforest land.

Repellent: Plants that are said to deter but not necessarily kill various mammals, birds, insects etc.

Tannin: An astringent substance obtaied from plants, it is used medicinally, as a dye and mordant, stabilizer in pesticide etc.

Teeth: Plants used to clean and care for the teeth.

Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.

How it is grown

A plant of arid and semi-arid areas in the tropics. Requires a sunny position. Grows wild in light, dry soils. Capable of growing on very poor, dry, leached soils. For many decades the range of this plant has been spreading further south to areas with wetter conditions.

Propagating it: Seed

Best place to grow:

Habit: Shrub

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Slow

Soil: Light (sandy), medium

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Dry, moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Moshi medicine, guier du Senegal, Babodos, Bado-doce, Badodosso, Badosdoce, Badosdos, Badossosso, Bioce, Bionsi, Bisse-nhatam, Bissilintche, Bissom-aptchom, Bitchiante, Biussi, Bu-rusu, Budossosse, Carrere, Cloco, Elode, Fufumuco, Guelodi, Heloco, Iuci, Kaseshi, Mamakoikoi, Manafenafem, Nissem-antchom, Ntafine, Paundace,

Synonyms

Guiera glandulosa Sm.