Terminalia sericea

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Traditional Medicinal Uses of Terminalia sericea

Indications: Zulu Inyangas and Sangomas administer roots in emetics and/or inoculating powder, rubbed into scarifications, for ailments known as amanxebha. The roots are also thought to be used to cause these ailments which are traditionally caused by witchcraft and take the form of pain in the chest, neck and shoulders. Sometimes these symptoms refer to tuberculosis or rheumatism. Intended victims are believed to die from wounds and coughing.

The Sotho use powdered bark, taken with mealie meal, for diabetes.

Root decoctions are used in various parts of southern Africa for diarrhoea and relieve colic. Powdered roots are used with mylabris beetle for the treatment of schistosomiasis. Hot infusions of outer layers of roots are used as fomentations for pneumonia and root decoctions are used as eyewashes.

The Vhavenda use leaves for wounds and menorrhagia while the bark is used for wounds and roots are used for diarrhoea, infertility, and venereal diseases.

Roots are also used in Botswana and Zimbabwe for various gastric and gynaecological disorders, venereal diseases, general weakness, sore throats and nosebleeds.

Physiological effects: According to Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk (1962), the roots are poisonous. Flowers have an unpleasant smell and root decoctions taste very bitter.

Other Uses: The wood is used as a source of energy for cooking and boiling water, for constructing huts, for fencing material and for solid structures.

Terminalia sericea Botanical Information

Name derivation: The name Terminalia was given from the Latin terminus referring to the leaves appearing at the very tips of the shoots. The specific Latin epithet sericea, meaning silky, refers to the dense silky hairs on the leaves of the species.

Morphology: Small deciduous bushy tree 3 – 12 m high or shrub; crown flat or rounded; bark grey-brown or pale-brown to grey-black, longitudinally fissured, fresh bark pale-rusty-red; branchlets with purplish-black bark peeling to reveal a light-brown newly exposed surface; young shoots sericeous-tomentose.

Leaves spirally arranged, petiolate; lamina 5.5 – 12.5 x 1.5 – 4.5 cm, chartaceous, narrowly obovate-elliptic to narrowly elliptic, densely silvery-sericeous-tomentose (somewhat glabrescent when old), apex acute to rounded, base cuneate; lateral nerves usually inconspicuous beneath; petiole 2-10 mm long.

Inflorescences of lateral spikes 5-7.5 cm long; peduncle 2.5-3 cm long, densely sericeous. Flowers greenish-white. Lower receptacle sericeous-tomentose; upper receptacle sericeous but less densely so. Sepals triangular-acuminate. Stamens 4 mm long; anthers 0.5 mm long. Disk pilose. Fruit pinkish or purplish-brown, 3-4 x 1.7-2.5 cm broadly elliptic, apex obtuse to rounded and usually emarginate, base obtuse to subtruncate, finely tomentose, stipe 5-7 mm long. Cotyledons 2, c. 2 cm in diam., irregularly subcircular with petioles 1.5-2 cm long, arising below soil level.

Habitat: Combretum-Terminalia savanna, often dominant or co-dominant; Acacia-Combretum-Terminalia tree savanna; Brachystegia savanna woodland; Baikiaea woodland; mopane savanna; lake basin chipya; deciduous thickets; margins of dambos; sandy soils; very widespread from low to medium altitudes.

Growing Terminalia sericea: It germinates readily from fresh healthy seeds. The seeds are planted into starter bags. They are then transplanted into larger bags or directly into the soil as soon as the root system develops or reaches the base of the starter bag.

References

Taxonomy

Arnold. T.H., Prentice, C.A., Hawker, L.C., Snyman, E.E., Tomalin, M., Crouch, N.R. and Pottas-Bircher, C. (2002). Medicinal and magical plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 13. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.

Traditional Medicine Usage

Arnold. T.H., Prentice, C.A., Hawker, L.C., Snyman, E.E., Tomalin, M., Crouch, N.R. and Pottas-Bircher, C. (2002). Medicinal and magical plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 13. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.

Hutchings, A., Scott, A.H., Lewis, G., Cunnigham, A.B., (1996). Zulu Medicinal Plants: an inventory. University of Natal

Life Cycle, Morphology, Habitat, and Distribution information.

Germizhuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds) 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.

e-Flora of South Africa. v1.21. 2018. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.

PlantzAfrica.com – http://pza.sanbi.org/terminalia-sericea

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