Psilanthus ebractiolatus (PROTA)

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Introduction

List of species

General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Stimulant
Dye / tannin
Medicinal
Fibre

Psilanthus ebractiolatus Hiern

Protologue: Oliv., Fl. trop. Afr. 3: 186 (1877).

Family: Rubiaceae

Chromosome number: 2n = 22

Synonyms

• Coffea ebractiolata (Hiern) Brenan (1953).

Origin and geographic distribution

Psilanthus ebractiolatus is distributed from Guinea to Cameroon.

Uses

Ground fruits and seeds of Psilanthus ebractiolatus are used in Ghana to make black tattoos. Toothbrushes are made from the wood. Roasted fruits smell distinctly of coffee and are used as a substitute. In Côte d’Ivoire the leaves are used medicinally against Guinea worm. A soft paste made from the leaves, with garlic and lemon, is applied to the puncture marks on the skin caused by the worms, which after a few days are killed and can be gradually removed.

Description

• Shrub or small tree up to 5 m tall, with slender branches, glabrous.
• Leaves opposite, simple and entire; stipules small, connate or sheathing; petiole up to 2 mm long; blade elliptical, up to 10 cm × 5 cm, base cuneate, apex acuminate, glossy, lateral veins in 3–4 pairs, looping.
• Flowers solitary, terminal, bisexual, regular, 5-merous, c. 2.5 cm long, fragrant during the night, sessile; calyx shallowly cup-shaped, truncate; corolla white, tubular, tube slightly longer than lobes; stamens with short filaments, anthers completely included in corolla tube; ovary inferior, 2-celled, style 2-fid, remaining within corolla tube.
• Fruit an obovoid to ellipsoid drupe c. 12 mm in diameter, distinctly 2-lobed, containing 2 leathery, 1-seeded pyrenes, black when dry.
• Seeds grooved on inner surface, smooth.

Other botanical information

Psilanthus comprises about 20 species, confined to the Old World tropics. The taxonomic position of Psilanthus has not yet been firmly established; it is sometimes considered to be part of Coffea, from which it differs by its corolla tube, which is longer than the lobes and by its anthers and style, which are not exserted.

Ecology

Psilanthus ebractiolatus is found in closed forest, in humid as well as semi-dry forest, at low altitudes.

Genetic resources

Psilanthus ebractiolatus is widespread and does not seem to be in danger of genetic erosion. For purposes of coffee breeding, in hybridization experiments using tetraploidized accessions of Psilanthus ebractiolatus some fertile hybrids were obtained in crosses with Coffea arabica L. (2n = 44).

Prospects

Psilanthus ebractiolatus as source of a dye will remain only very locally of some importance. Its medicinal properties need further investigation. Its successful hybridization with Coffea arabica opens up new prospects in coffee breeding.

Major references

• Abbiw, D.K., 1990. Useful plants of Ghana: West African uses of wild and cultivated plants. Intermediate Technology Publications, London and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 337 pp.

• 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.

• Irvine, F.R., 1961. Woody plants of Ghana, with special reference to their uses. Oxford University Press, London, United Kingdom. 868 pp.

Other references

• Bridson, D.M., 1987. Nomenclatural notes on Psilanthus, including Coffea sect. Paracoffea (Rubiaceae tribe Coffeeae). Kew Bulletin 42: 453–460.

• Couturon, E., Lashermes, P. & Charrier, A., 1998. First intergeneric hybrids (Psilanthus ebracteolatus Hiern × Coffea arabica L.) in coffee trees. Canadian Journal of Botany 76: 542–546.

• Hepper, F.N. & Keay, R.W.J., 1963. Rubiaceae. In: Hepper, F.N. (Editor). Flora of West Tropical Africa. Volume 2. 2nd Edition. Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations, London, United Kingdom. pp. 104–223.

• Hiern, W.P., 1877. Rubiaceae. In: Oliver, D. (Editor). Flora of tropical Africa. Volume 3. L. Reeve & Co, Ashford, United Kingdom. pp. 33–247.

• Kerharo, J. & Bouquet, A., 1950. Plantes médicinales et toxiques de la Côte d’Ivoire - Haute-Volta. Vigot Frères, Paris, France. 291 pp.

Author(s)

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

Correct citation of this article

Jansen, P.C.M., 2005. Psilanthus ebractiolatus Hiern. In: Jansen, P.C.M. & Cardon, D. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. Accessed 3 April 2025.

• See the Prota4U database.