Triumfetta tomentosa (PROTA)

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Introduction

List of species

General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Vegetable
Medicinal
Fuel
Forage / feed
Fibre
Food security

Triumfetta tomentosa Bojer

Protologue: Hort. Maurit.: 43 (1837).

Family: Tiliaceae (APG: Malvaceae)

Vernacular names

• Tomentose burbark (En).

Origin and geographic distribution

Triumfetta tomentosa is widespread in tropical Africa, from Gambia eastward to Ethiopia and southward through Central and East Africa to Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Madagascar. It also occurs in South Africa, tropical Asia and tropical America. It has been cultivated in Mauritius for its fibre.

Uses

Fibre from the bark of the lower part of the stem is widely used in tropical Africa for making very good, strong rope and string. In Kenya it is used for tying in hut construction, and in Burundi for weaving mats.

The stem and green bark are a source of mucilage used for making slimy soups and sauces in Cameroon. In central Kenya the twigs and leaves are fed to cattle and goats, and the wood is used as fuel.

A decoction of the leaf is used for washing the stomach after childbirth in Cameroon, and in Burundi a leaf extract is taken for treatment of dysentery. The powdered dry leaf is made into a paste applied on burns in Ethiopia, and is mixed with castor oil and rubbed in against scabies in Tanzania.

Properties

Bast fibre from Uganda investigated in the 1930s contained 71% cellulose and 9% lignin.

In the dry season in central Kenya the leaves contain per 100 g dry matter: 15.2 g crude protein, 47.6 g neutral detergent fibre, 9.3 g ash and 7.8 g soluble tannins, with an in-vitro dry matter digestibility of 59%, and an in-vitro crude protein digestibility of 82%. In the rainy season the leaves contain per 100 g dry matter: 26.3 g crude protein, 35.9 g neutral detergent fibre, 11.0 g ash and 8.2 g soluble tannins, with an in-vitro dry matter digestibility of 70%, and an in-vitro crude protein digestibility of 93%. Leaves in Uganda have a crude protein content of 24.7–26.0 g per 100 g dry matter.

Description

Shrub up to 3 m tall; stem erect, 3.5–7 mm in diameter, with a brown, downy cover of mainly stellate hairs. Leaves alternate, simple; stipules narrowly triangular, c. 7 mm long, dark brown, densely hairy; petiole terete, up to 7 cm long, hairy as stem; blade oblong to ovate, 4–14 cm × 1.5–9.5 cm, in lowest leaves slightly 3-lobed with a central lobe c. 3 cm long and lateral lobes c. 0.5 cm long, base cordate to obtuse, apex acute to almost acuminate, margin toothed, lower surface densely covered with a soft tomentose down of white stellate hairs, upper surface with sparse hairs with fewer and shorter arms. Inflorescence terminal, sparsely branched, 10–22 cm long, lower nodes with slightly reduced leaves, nodes 0.5–3 cm apart, each with 6–10 cymes, cymes 1–3-flowered; peduncle up to 5 mm long, hairy as stem; bracts narrowly ovate, 1.5–4 mm × c. 0.5 mm, hairy. Flowers bisexual, regular; pedicel up to 5(–12) mm long; sepals 5, free, narrowly lanceolate to oblong, slightly fiddle-shaped, 4.5–9(–10) mm long, with apical spines, densely grey stellate-hairy; petals 5, rounded-oblong, 4–7(–8.5) mm × 0.5–1.5(–3) mm, yellow, with basal claw, base of the claw fringed with hairs, pubescent; stamens 8–12; ovary superior, 4-locular. Fruit a dehiscent, almost globose capsule (6.5–)8–20 mm in diameter (including bristles), with 96–140 patent dark brown bristles 2–7 mm long, each covered in soft, white and simple hairs, apex of bristles straight to curved, but not hooked, with a single, often inclined, terminal hair. Seeds c. 2.5 mm long, glossy.

In Benin Triumfetta tomentosa flowers and bears fruits in February–September.

Triumfetta is a pantropical genus of about 100 species. The classification within Triumfetta is mainly based on fruit characteristics. Triumfetta tomentosa is easily confused with Triumfetta pilosa Roth, but can be distinguished from the latter and other shrubby Triumfetta species by its smaller fruit (less than 15 mm in diameter) with bristles lacking a terminal hook. Triumfetta pedunculata De Wild., an erect herb or shrub up to 1.5 m tall occurring in DR Congo, is also recorded to be used as a source of fibre.

Ecology

Triumfetta tomentosa occurs from sea-level up to 2400 m altitude, in forest, swamp margins, bushland, fallows and along roads. It is a weed of cultivated land.

Management

Triumfetta tomentosa can be propagated by seeds and cuttings. New shoots are formed when stems are cut, and in Burundi annual harvesting of stems is possible. Farmers practice coppicing in central Kenya as well. To obtain the fibre in Burundi, the entire bark is removed from the harvested stem, after which the inner bark is separated in one piece and dried in the sun. In cloudy weather, drying is over a fire, because delayed drying results in discoloration. The inner bark of older stems cannot be recovered for its whole length. The whole piece of inner bark is used as string or for weaving.

Genetic resources

Because of its widespread distribution, broad range of habitats, and occurrence as weed in cultivated land, Triumfetta tomentosa is not threatened by genetic erosion.

Prospects

Very good, strong rope is made from the bark fibre, and the plant is also a useful local source of food, fodder, fuel and medicine. However, too little information is available on the properties of the fibre and the other useful products to assess the future prospects of this species.

Major references

• Burkill, H.M., 2000. The useful plants of West Tropical Africa. 2nd Edition. Volume 5, Families S–Z, Addenda. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 686 pp.

• Nzigidahera, B., 2007. Ressources biologiques sauvages du Burundi : état des connaissances traditionnelles. Institut National pour l’Environnement et la Conservation de la Nature (INECN), Bujumbura, Burundi. 115 pp.

• Roothaert, R.L., 2000. The potential of indigenous and naturalized fodder trees and shrubs for intensive use in central Kenya. PhD thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands. 168 pp.

• Vollesen, K. & Demissew Sebsebe, 1995. Tiliaceae. In: Edwards, S., Mesfin Tadesse & Hedberg, I. (Editors). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Volume 2, part 2. Canellaceae to Euphorbiaceae. The National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Department of Systematic Botany, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. pp. 145–164.

• Whitehouse, C., Cheek, M., Andrews, S. & Verdcourt, B., 2001. Tiliaceae & Muntingiaceae. In: Beentje, H.J. (Editor). Flora of Tropical East Africa. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands. 120 pp.

Other references

• Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (Editors), 2006. Flore analytique du Bénin. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, Netherlands. 1034 pp.

• Bosser, J., 1987. Tiliacées. In: Bosser, J., Cadet, T., Guého, J. & Marais, W. (Editors). Flore des Mascareignes. Familles 51–62. The Sugar Industry Research Institute, Mauritius, l’Office de la Recherche Scientifique Outre-Mer, Paris, France & Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 14 pp.

• Brokensha, D. & Riley, B.W., 1986. Changes in the uses of plants in Mbeere, Kenya. Journal of Arid Environments 11: 75–80.

• Fisseha Mesfin, 2007. An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in Wonago Woreda, SNNPR, Ethiopia. MSc thesis, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 74 pp.

• Jiofack, T., Fokunang, C., Kemeuze, V., Fongnzossie, E., Tsabang, N., Nkuinkeu, R., Mapongmetsem, P.M. & Nkongmeneck, B.A., 2008. Ethnobotany and phytopharmacopoea of the South-West ethnoecological region of Cameroon. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research 2(8): 197 206.

• Norman, A.G., 1937. The composition of some less common vegetable fibres. Biochemical Journal 31: 1575–1578.

• Rothman, J.M., Dierenfeld, E.S., Molina, D.O., Shaw, A.V., Hintz, H.D.F. & Pell, A.N., 2006. Nutritional chemistry of foods eaten by gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. American Journal of Primatology 68: 675–691.

• Rothman, J.M., Plumptre, A.J., Dierenfeld, E.S. & Pell, A.N., 2007. Nutritional composition of the diet of the gorilla (Gorilla beringei): a comparison between two montane habitats. Journal of Tropical Ecology 23: 673–682.

• Westphal, E., 1981. L’agriculture autochtone au Cameroun: les techniques culturales, les séquences de culture, les plantes alimentaires et leur consommation. Miscellaneous papers No 20. Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen, Netherlands. 175 pp.

• Wilczek, R., 1963. Tiliaceae. 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 10. Institut National pour l’Étude Agronomique du Congo belge, Brussels, Belgium. pp. 1–91.

Author(s)

• M. Brink, PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands

Correct citation of this article

Brink, M., 2010. Triumfetta tomentosa Bojer. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. Brink, M. & Achigan-Dako, E.G. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>.

Accessed 31 March 2025.

• See the Prota4U database.