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<big>''[[Xysmalobium undulatum]]'' (L.) W.T.Aiton</big>
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Xysmalobium undulatum'' (PROTA)}}
[[File:Map Xysmalobium undulatum.gif|thumb|distribution in Africa (wild)]]
:Protologue: Hort. kew., ed. 2, 2: 79 (1811).
:Family: Asclepiadaceae (APG: Apocynaceae)
== Vernacular names ==
*Uzara, milk bush (En).
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
A methanol extract of the whole plant did not show antiplasmodial activity in vitro. Different root extracts did not show significant antibacterial and antifungal activity in vitro. Methanol and dichloromethane extract of the leaves did not show antimutagenic activity in vitro.
== Botany Description ==
Robust annual herb up to 1 m high, from a perennial rootstock, with thick, erect, hairy branches; roots forming a fleshy, carrot-like root, white inside, with nauseating smell; latex present in all parts. Leaves opposite, simple and entire, undulating; petiole 1–6 mm long; blade lanceolate to oblong, 5.5–22 cm × 1–2.5 cm, base cuneate, apex acute, mucronate, short-hairy on both sides, margins slightly thickened. Inflorescences an axillary or terminal umbel, up to 25-flowered, often clustered at the top of the stem; peduncle 0.5–1 cm long, short-hairy; bracts linear-lanceolate. Flowers bisexual, regular, 5-merous; pedicel 3–12 mm long, short-hairy; sepals lanceolate, 2–5 mm long, acute, pale yellow, softly hairy; corolla campanulate, white, yellowish or greenish inside, outside often purple, lobes triangular, 3–5 mm × 2–3 mm, acute, apex reflexed, glabrous outside, densely white-hairy within at apex and margins; corona lobes attached at base of staminal column, fleshy, broadly ovate to rhomboid, flattened, shorter than the column, with thick obtuse keel, staminal column c. 2.5 mm long, furrowed, appendages broadly ovate; ovary superior, carpels 2, free, stigma head rounded. Fruit usually 1 ovoid follicle, upright through contortion of pedicel, 8–12 cm × 3.5–4 cm, with a short beak, strongly inflated, balloon-like, papery, pale green, sometimes tinged reddish, short-hairy, with soft spiny processes, many-seeded. Seeds ovate, coma 2.5–3 cm long.
== Other botanical information ==
''Xysmalobium'' comprises 40–45 species in tropical Africa; about 18 occur in South Africa. It is closely related to ''Pachycarpus'' and ''Gomphocarpus''.
Several other ''Xysmalobium'' species are medicinally used. ''Xysmalobium heudelotianum'' Decne. occurs in savannah throughout tropical Africa. In Benin the pulverized root in water is taken to treat dysentery. In Nigeria the cooked fleshy root is eaten to treat stomach problems and a decoction is taken as a bitter tonic and stomachic. In Gambia the dried root powder mixed with mud is used as a plaster for surfacing the walls of houses, and give protection against vermin. The plant contains cardiac glycosides, which exhibit weak cardiotonic activity. ''Xysmalobium sessile'' (Decne.) Decne. occurs in DR Congo, Zambia and Angola. In DR Congo the root is chewed as an aphrodisiac. == Description == == Growth and development ==
=== ''Xysmalobium heudelotianum'' ===
''[[Xysmalobium heudelotianum]]'' Decne. occurs in savannah throughout tropical Africa. In Benin the pulverized root in water is taken to treat dysentery. In Nigeria the cooked fleshy root is eaten to treat stomach problems and a decoction is taken as a bitter tonic and stomachic. In Gambia the dried root powder mixed with mud is used as a plaster for surfacing the walls of houses, and give protection against vermin. The plant contains cardiac glycosides, which exhibit weak cardiotonic activity.
=== ''Xysmalobium sessile'' ===
''[[Xysmalobium sessile]]'' (Decne.) Decne. occurs in DR Congo, Zambia and Angola. In DR Congo the root is chewed as an aphrodisiac.
== Ecology ==
''Xysmalobium undulatum'' is common in grassland areas and seasonally wet localities, from sea-level up to 2000 m altitude. ''Xysmalobium undulatum'' is self-incompatible. Its flowers are visited by a range of different insects, but only the chafer beetle (''Atrichelaphinis tigrina'') and pompilid wasps (''Hemipepsis'') effect pollination.
== Management ==
== Author(s) ==
* G.H. Schmelzer , PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
== Correct citation of this article ==
Schmelzer, G.H., 2011. '''Xysmalobium undulatum''' (L.) W.T. Aiton. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. In: Schmelzer, G.H. & Gurib-Fakim, A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>. Accessed {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}.
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[[Category:PROTA prov]][[Category:Medicinal plants (PROTA)]]
