Lasiodiscus mildbraedii (PROTA)

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Introduction

List of species

General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Medicinal
Timber

Lasiodiscus mildbraedii Engl.

Protologue: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 40: 552 (1908).

Family: Rhamnaceae

Origin and geographic distribution

Lasiodiscus mildbraedii occurs in São Tomé et Principe, Cameroon, southern Sudan, eastern DR Congo, Uganda and Tanzania. The isolated populations in São Tomé et Principe and south-eastern Cameroon may result from a larger, continuous distribution in the past.

Uses

The wood is used for poles in construction, railway sleepers and spear shafts; it is also used as firewood. In Uganda the bark is administered as a purgative to children.

Properties

The wood is whitish brown to pinkish brown, heavy, hard, tough and elastic.

Description

Shrub or small tree up to 10(–25) m tall; bole up to 30 cm in diameter; bark surface flaking with small scales, dark grey, inner bark yellowish brown to pinkish or brownish red; twigs short-hairy or glabrous, older ones with scars of stipules. Leaves opposite, simple; stipules interpetiolar, triangular, 0.5–1.5 cm long, fused at base, caducous; petiole 3–7 mm long; blade elliptical to oblanceolate, (8.5–)11–15.5(–23) cm × (3.5–)4.5–5.5(–12) cm, cuneate and asymmetrical at base, acute to slightly acuminate at apex, margins irregularly toothed, usually slightly hairy below, pinnately veined with 7–10 pairs of lateral veins. Inflorescence an axillary, compound dichasium, often umbel-like, branches up to 2(–3) cm long, hairy. Flowers bisexual, regular, 5-merous, whitish; pedicel up to 2 cm long; hypanthium campanulate; sepals triangular, 2–2.5 mm long; petals oblanceolate, c. 2 cm long, much narrower than sepals; stamens opposite the petals, 1.5–2 mm long; disk ring-like, fleshy, 2–2.5 mm in diameter, yellowish; ovary half-inferior to inferior, 3-celled, style 1–2 mm long, 3-branched. Fruit up to 1 cm in diameter, hairy, splitting into 3 parts, each part longitudinally dehiscent and 1-seeded. Seeds globose, flattened on one side, 5–7 mm in diameter, smooth, brown.

Other botanical information

The leaves serve as food for chimpanzees.

Lasiodiscus comprises 12 species and occurs in tropical Africa, with one species also found in Madagascar. Lasiodiscus seems to be related to Colubrina, but the latter differs in its alternate leaves, lateral stipules and glabrous fruits.

Lasiodiscus fasciculiflorus

Lasiodiscus fasciculiflorus Engl. is a shrub or small tree up to 10 m tall, occurring from Sierra Leone east to the Central African Republic and south to DR Congo and northern Angola. Its wood is probably used for similar purposes as that of Lasiodiscus mildbraedii, and in Congo bark decoctions are applied in traditional medicine to treat vertigo and rheumatism.

Lasiodiscus mannii

Lasiodiscus mannii Hook.f. is a shrub or small tree up to 10 m tall, occurring from Guinea east to the Central African Republic and south to Gabon and DR Congo. Its wood is probably used for similar purposes as that of Lasiodiscus mildbraedii, and in Ghana its twigs serve as chew-sticks.

Ecology

Lasiodiscus mildbraedii occurs mainly in humid to more dry evergreen rainforest and gallery forest, but also in dry forest and woodland, usually at 1000–1400 m altitude but occasionally at low altitude. In Uganda it is locally dominant in the understorey of forest in which Cynometra alexandri C.H.Wright dominates the canopy. In São Tomé it occurs above 200 m altitude.

Management

Lasiodiscus mildbraedii may be invasive after logging in forest dominated by Podocarpus and Baikiaea spp., and is sometimes considered a weed.

Genetic resources

Lasiodiscus mildbraedii is widespread and locally common in the understorey of several forest types. Therefore, it is not liable to genetic erosion. The isolated populations in São Tomé and Cameroon are interesting and may be genetically different.

Prospects

The wood of Lasiodiscus mildbraedii and other Lasiodiscus spp. will probably remain of some local importance, mainly for use as poles, but it has no prospects for commercialization because of the small size of the boles. In Budongo Forest in Uganda, Lasiodiscus mildbraedii is ranked amongst the most promising species for integration into agroforestry systems for the production of wood for poles, firewood and boundary planting, as well as for use as shade tree. However, knowledge on site requirements, reproductive biology, artificial propagation and growth rates is seriously deficient.

Major references

• Eggeling, W.J. & Dale, I.R., 1951. The indigenous trees of the Uganda Protectorate. Government Printer, Entebbe, Uganda. 491 pp.

• Figueiredo, E., 1995. A revision of Lasiodiscus (Rhamnaceae). Kew Bulletin 50(3): 495–526.

• Johnston, M.C., 1972. Rhamnaceae. In: Milne-Redhead, E. & Polhill, R.M. (Editors). Flora of Tropical East Africa. Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations, London, United Kingdom. 40 pp.

• Kasolo, W.K. & Temu, A.B., 2008. Tree species selection for buffer zone agroforestry: the case of Budongo Forest in Uganda. International Forestry Review 10(1): 52–64.

• Sommerlatte, H. & Sommerlatte, M., 1990. A field guide to the trees and shrubs of the Imatong Mountains, southern Sudan. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammmenarbeit (GTZ), Nairobi, Kenya. 372 pp.

Other references

• Burkill, H.M., 1997. The useful plants of West Tropical Africa. 2nd Edition. Volume 4, Families M–R. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 969 pp.

• Evrard, C., 1960. Rhamnaceae. In: Robyns, W., Staner, P., Demaret, F., Germain, R., Gilbert, G., Hauman, L., Homès, M., Jurion, F., Lebrun, J., Vanden Abeele, M. & Boutique, R. (Editors). Flore du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi. Spermatophytes. Volume 9. Institut National pour l’Étude Agronomique du Congo belge, Brussels, Belgium. pp. 429–452.

• Figueiredo, E., 1996. Generic delimitation of Lasiodiscus (Rhamnaceae). In: van der Maesen, L.J.G., van der Burgt, X.M. & van Medenbach de Rooy, J.M. (Editors). The biodiversity of African plants. Proceedings XIVth AETFAT Congress, 22–27 August 1994, Wageningen, Netherlands. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands. pp. 472–476.

• Neuwinger, H.D., 2000. African traditional medicine: a dictionary of plant use and applications. Medpharm Scientific, Stuttgart, Germany. 589 pp.

Author(s)

• L.P.A. Oyen, PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands

Correct citation of this article

Oyen, L.P.A., 2011. Lasiodiscus mildbraedii Engl. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J., Louppe, D. & Oteng-Amoako, A.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. Accessed 31 March 2025.

• See the Prota4U database.