Lasimorpha senegalensis (PROTA)

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Introduction

List of species

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

Lasimorpha senegalensis Schott

Protologue: Bonplandia 5(8): 127 (1857).

Family: Araceae

Chromosome number: 2n = 26

Synonyms

Lasimorpha afzelii Schott (1858), Cyrtosperma senegalense (Schott) Engl. (1879).

Vernacular names

Swamp arum (En). Grand arum du Sénégal, taro des marais, maïs des esprits (Fr).

Origin and geographic distribution

Lasimorpha senegalensis occurs from Senegal to Chad, Central African Republic, DR Congo and Angola. It is not known from East Africa.

Uses

The young leaves of Lasimorpha senegalensis are eaten as a vegetable in Gabon; they are collected from the wild. In Sierra Leone the young leaf is eaten as a famine food, and as an ingredient of palaver sauce.

In Congo the leaves are given to women during childbirth to accelerate delivery. In Côte d’Ivoire the leaf sap has been taken orally against hiccups. In Gabon the rhizomes are used to treat ulcers. A decoction is analgesic and sedative. In Congo it is taken as cough cure (one teaspoon), and in larger doses to treat nervousness and agitation. In southern Nigeria the fruits are an ingredient of remedies for gonorrhoea and dysentery. In Sierra Leone and Gabon salt is extracted from the ashes of burnt plants. In some parts of Gabon the leaves are used to wrap dumplings of cassava flour.

Botany

Large herb with a short and thick rhizome, vigorously stoloniferous. Leaves in a tuft, simple; petiole erect, spiny, 0.5–1(–2) m long; blade sagittate, 20–50(–100) cm × 15–30(–40) cm, basal lobes acuminate. Inflorescence a cylindrical, purplish spadix up to 12 cm long, enclosed by a spathe up to 45 cm long, spathe greenish outside, whitish with purple streaks inside; peduncle 1–1.5(–2.5) m tall, spiny, solitary, emerging from the leaves. Flowers bisexual, sessile and tightly packed on the spadix, 4(–5)-merous; tepals free; stamens free or connate; ovary superior, 1-celled. Fruit an irregularly globose berry c. 1.5 cm long, red, 1–4-seeded. Seeds strongly curved, brown, warty.

Lasimorpha comprises a single species and is the only African representative of subfamily Lasioideae consisting of 10 genera. It seems most closely related to Cyrtosperma from Asia.

Ecology

Lasimorpha senegalensis occurs in swamp forest, along streams, in ditches and ponds, often very abundant.

Genetic resources

Lasimorpha senegalensis is quite common in swampy areas, where it forms large populations due to its strong development of underground suckers. No collections of genetic resources are known. The species is not in danger of genetic erosion.

Prospects

Lasimorpha senegalensis does not seem to have great potential as a vegetable. The possibilities for its use as an indoor pot plant in temperate climates or as garden pond ornamental in warmer climates seem promising.

Major references

• 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.

• Raponda-Walker, A., 1953. Usages pharmaceutiques des plantes spontanées du Gabon, 2. Bulletin Institut d'Études Centrafricaines, Nouvelle série 5: 19–40.

• Raponda-Walker, A. & Sillans, R., 1961. Les plantes utiles du Gabon. Paul Lechevalier, Paris, France. 614 pp.

Other references

• Boos, J., 2003. Lasimorpha senegalensis Schott. [Internet] International Aroid Society. http://www.aroid.org/genera/lasimorpha/lasiomor.html. July 2003.

• Bouquet, A., 1969. Féticheurs et médecines traditionnelles du Congo (Brazzaville). Mémoires ORSTOM No 36. Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique Outre-Mer. Paris, France. 282 pp.

• Bouquet, A. & Debray, M., 1974. Plantes médicinales de la Côte d’Ivoire. Travaux et Documents No 32. ORSTOM, Paris, France. 231 pp.

• Dalziel, J.M., 1937. The useful plants of West Tropical Africa. Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations, London, United Kingdom. 612 pp.

• Mayo, S.J., Bogner, J. & Boyce, P.C., 1997. The genera of Araceae. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. 370 pp.

• Vanden Berghen, C., 1988. Flore illustrée du Sénégal. Monocotylédones et Ptéridophytes. Volume 9. Monocotylédones: Agavacées à Orchidacées. Gouvernement du Sénégal, Ministère du Développement Rural et de l’Hydraulique, Direction des Eaux et Forêts, Dakar, Senegal. 522 pp.

Author(s)

• W.J. van der Burg

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

Correct citation of this article

van der Burg, W.J., 2004. Lasimorpha senegalensis Schott. [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. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>.

Accessed 17 December 2024.

• See the Prota4U database.