Gongronema angolense (PROTA)

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Introduction

List of species

General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Vegetable
Medicinal
Food security

Gongronema angolense (N.E.Br.) Bullock

Protologue: Kew Bull. 15: 199 (1961).

Family: Asclepiadaceae (APG: Apocynaceae)

Synonyms

• Marsdenia angolensis N.E.Br. (1895),
• Marsdenia gondarensis Chiov. (1911).

Origin and geographic distribution

Gongronema angolense is widely distributed all over tropical Africa, from Guinea to Zimbabwe.

Uses

In Rwanda the thick fleshy roots are eaten by children.

Properties

There is no information on the phytochemistry of Gongronema angolense. Leaves of Gongronema latifolium Benth. (a related climber in wet forests in tropical Africa) have shown anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidant effects in hepatocytes of non-insulin dependent diabetic rats.

Botany

• Slender climber, often 3–4 m long, but able to climb to the canopy of high trees, with woody base and fleshy roots, containing latex.
• Leaves opposite, simple, softly hairy; petiole up to 4 cm long; blade ovate, 5–14 cm × 3–10 cm, base cordate, apex acuminate, margins entire.
• Inflorescence cymose, composed of 2–3 primary branches divided dichotomously, each division ending in a 10–14-flowered umbel.
• Flowers bisexual, small, regular, 5-merous, yellow-green; pedicel c. 1 cm long; sepals elliptical-oblong, c. 2 mm × 1 mm; corolla tubular, with campanulate tube up to 4 mm long, lobes elliptical-oblong, c. 2 mm long, spreading; corona lobes as long as stamens; stamens with deltoid to ovate anther appendages, connivent around the stout, roundish style apex.
• Fruit a pair of leathery, pendent follicles, each one cylindrical, 10–15 cm × 4–8 mm, densely brown-grey hairy.

Gongronema is a small genus comprising 5 species in Africa, much resembling Dregea, formerly described in Marsdenia.

Ecology

Gongronema angolense is most abundant as a climber in secondary vegetation or in forest edges, in dry localities, from sea-level up to 1800 m altitude.

Genetic resources

Gongronema angolense is common all over tropical Africa and is not in danger of genetic erosion.

Prospects

More research is needed to determine the nutritive value of the fleshy roots of Gongronema angolense.

Major references

• Brown, N.E., 1902–1904. Asclepiadaceae. In: Thiselton-Dyer, W.T. (Editor). Flora of tropical Africa. Volume 4(1). Lovell Reeve & Co, London, United Kingdom. pp. 231–503.

• Bullock, A.A., 1961. Notes on African Asclepiadaceae 9. Kew Bulletin 15: 193–206.

Other references

• Beentje, H.J., 1994. Kenya trees, shrubs and lianas. National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya. 722 pp.

• Bullock, A.A., 1963. Asclepiadaceae. 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. 85–103.

• Burkill, H.M., 1985. The useful plants of West Tropical Africa. 2nd Edition. Volume 1, Families A–D. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 960 pp.

• Morebise, O., Fafunso, M.A., Makinde, J.M., Olajide, O.A. & Awe, E.O., 2002. Antiinflammatory property of the leaves of Gongronema latifolium. Phytotherapy Research 16(1): 75–77.

• Ugochukwu, N.H. & Babady, N.E., 2002. Antioxidant effects of Gongronema latifolium in hepatocytes of rat models of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Fitoterapia 73: 612–618.

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., 2004. Gongronema angolense (N.E.Br.) Bullock. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands.

Accessed 6 March 2025.