Plants used as toothbrush

Twigs (or sometimes roots) of many trees and shrubs are used as toothbrush, chewing stick or toothpick. The action is mostly mechanical, but it may have an antiseptic or aromatic (as with liquorice root) interest.

Plants mentioned by PROTA for tropical Africa

• Acacia kamerunensis Gand. (stem and root)
• Acacia nilotica (L.) Willd. ex Delile
• Afzelia africana Sm. ex Pers.
• Aulacocalyx jasminiflora Hook.f.
• Breonadia salicina (Vahl) Hepper & J.R.I.Wood
• Cadaba farinosa Forssk.
• Carpolobia alba G.Don
• Clausena anisata (Willd.) Hook.f. ex Benth.
• Colophospermum mopane (Benth.) J.Léonard
• Commiphora rostrata Engl.
• Craterispermum schweinfurthii Hiern
• Cupressus lusitanica Mill.
• Daniellia oliveri (Rolfe) Hutch. & Dalziel (roots)
• Daniellia thurifera Benn.
• Diospyros elliotii (Hiern) F.White
• Diospyros mespiliformis Hochst. ex A.DC.
• Distemonanthus benthamianus Baill.
• Dodonaea viscosa Jacq.
• Drypetes floribunda (Müll.Arg.) Hutch.
• Eremospatha dransfieldii Sunderl.
• Eremospatha haullevilleana De Wild.
• Eremospatha hookeri (G.Mann & H.Wendl.) H.Wendl.
• Eremospatha wendlandiana Dammer ex Becc.
• Euclea divinorum Hiern
• Euclea pseudebenus E.Mey. ex A.DC., roots and twigs
• Flueggea virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Voigt
• Garcinia afzelii Engl. (most common toothbrush in western Africa)
• Garcinia kola Heckel
• Glycosmis parviflora (Sims) Little
• Gongronema latifolium Benth.
• Guiera senegalensis J.F.Gmel.
• Gyrocarpus americanus Jacq.
• Heisteria parvifolia Sm.
• Hibiscus micranthus L.f.
• Jatropha curcas L. (stem chewed for medicinal purpose)
• Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A.Juss.
• Lasiodiscus mannii Hook.f.
• Lawsonia inermis L.
• Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Forssk.) Decne
• Loeseneriella africana (Willd.) N.Hallé
• Lophira alata Banks ex C.F.Gaertn.
• Maerua crassifolia Forssk.
• Maerua oblongifolia (Forssk.) A.Rich.
• Margaritaria discoidea (Baill.) G.L.Webster
• Oncocalamus tuleyi Sunderl. (base of leaf sheath)
• Oncocalamus wrightianus Hutch. & H.Wendl. (base of leaf sheath)
• Phyllanthus casticum Willemet
• Phyllanthus engleri Pax
• Phyllanthus muellerianus (Kuntze) Exell
• Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir.
• Phyllanthus sepialis Müll.Arg.
• Phyllanthus seyrigii Leandri
• Phyllocosmus lemaireanus (De Wild. & T.Durand) T.Durand & H.Durand
• Psilanthus ebractiolatus Hiern
• Podococcus barteri G.Mann & H.Wendl.
• Ritchiea capparoides (Andrews) Britten
• Salvadora persica L.
• Senna auriculata (L.) Roxb.
• Sida alba L.
• Sida rhombifolia L.
• Terminalia avicennioides Guill. & Perr. (roots)
• Terminalia laxiflora Engl. & Diels (roots)
• Terminalia macroptera Guill. & Perr.
• Terminalia schimperiana Hochst. (roots as chewing stick)
• Trichilia emetica Vahl
• Triumfetta rhomboidea Jacq.
• Vepris nobilis (Delile) Mziray
• Vepris simplicifolia (Engl.) Mziray non Endl.
• Wissadula rostrata (Schumach. & Thonn.) Planchon ex Hook.f.
• Zanthoxylum capense (Thunb.) Harv.
• Zanthoxylum chalybeum Engl.
• Zanthoxylum lemairei (De Wild.) P.G.Waterman
• Zanthoxylum leprieurii Guill. & Perr.
• Zanthoxylum rubescens Planch. ex Hook.f.
• Zanthoxylum usambarense (Engl.) Kokwaro
• Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides (Lam.) Zepern. & Timler

Other plants

• Atriplex halimus L. Voir Le Floc'h, 1983 n°106
• Diospyros lycioides Desf. (Lost crops of Africa. Fruits)
• Juglans regia L. Voir Le Floc'h, 1983 n°080 et Trabut
• Maerua crassifolia Forssk. Voir Atil, l'arbre-brosse à dents des populations du Sahara

Gouro toothsticks They are enjoying a great reputation as aphrodisiacs on the Internet.

• Turraea heterophylla Sm. pélaa [ti: black], the main species
• Combretum sp. pélaa [fu: white], the second important species
• Mallotus oppositifolius (Geisel.) Müll.Arg., glabuane plant
• Asparagus racemosus Willd., zaa yiri
• Cnestis ferruginea Vahl. ex DC., zamble wuo man klo
• Desmodium velutinum (Willd.) DC., ya-golo-suu
• Olax subscarpioidea Oliv., wan yiri
• Vitex doniana Sweet, pulu

In wolof, guró means "kola nut", and such properties may be associated to kola nut (Cola spp.) in Senegal.

References

• Haxaire, Claudie, 2011. ‘Better than Viagra®. The Gouro tooth stick, a 100% natural product’. Ethnopharmacology in the Age of the World Wide Web. Curare, Journal of medical anthropology and transcultural psychiatry, 34(1-2): 36-50.
• Sofowora Aboyomi, 1982. Medicinal plants and traditional medicines in Africa. Ibadan, Spectrum Books.