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<big>''[[Erythrococca bongensis]]'' Pax</big>
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Erythrococca bongensis'' (PROTA)}}
:Protologue: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 19: 88 (1894).
:Chromosome number:
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
Fresh leaves contain per 100 g: water 68 g, protein 7.2 g, fat 2.7 g, carbohydrate 18.5 g, fibre 4.3 g, Ca 678 mg and P 107 mg (Leung, Busson & Jardin, 1968).
== Botany Description ==
Dioecious, erect or scandent shrub or small tree up to 3.5(–6) m tall; bark pale grey or brown, flaking; branchlets grey-green, hairy when young, becoming glabrous. Leaves alternate, simple; stipules developed into spines c. 2 mm long, straight or hooked, yellowish; petiole (2–)3–9 mm long, hairy, becoming glabrous; blade ovate, elliptical or elliptical-lanceolate, (1–)3–7.5(–12) cm × (0.5–)1–3(–5) cm, base cuneate, apex obtuse or rarely acute, margins notched or toothed, pinnately veined with 5–7 pairs lateral veins, often looped. Inflorescence a head, solitary or fascicled, sessile or with peduncle up to 1.5 cm long; bracts minute. Flowers unisexual; male flowers with slender pedicel up to 12 mm long, flexible, glabrous, calyx with 3(–4) lobes, triangular to ovate, c. 1.5 mm × 1 mm, greenish cream, glabrous, extra-staminal disk-glands 7, small, rounded, inter-staminal glands numerous, angular, truncate, dark green, stamens 9–15 in 2 whorls, c. 0.5 mm long; female flowers with pedicel up to 4 mm long, calyx lobes smaller, disk glands 3, ovate, flattened, ovary superior, 3-lobed, c. 1 mm in diameter, style c. 1 mm long, stigma fringed, white. Fruit composed of 2–3 free cocci, each 3.5–4 mm in diameter, sparingly hairy, greenish or purplish, each coccus 1-seeded. Seed almost spherical, 3–3.5 mm in diameter, shallowly pitted or netted, aril orange-yellow or red.
== Other botanical information == ''Erythrococca'' comprises about 40 species and is confined to mainland Africa. Several other ''Erythrococca'' spp. have medicinal uses in Central and eastern Africa. === ''Erythrococca atrovirens'' ===''[[Erythrococca atrovirens]]'' (Pax) Prain occurs in equatorial Africa, extending south-east to Zambia. Leaf sap or a paste from the roots, heated together with lemon juice, is applied to syphilitic sores. Leaf powder is applied to wounds. The leaves are eaten as a vegetable. === ''Erythrococca fischeri'' ===''[[Erythrococca fischeri]]'' Pax occurs in eastern equatorial Africa. A decoction of its root is drunk to treat intestinal worm infections and gonorrhoea. The fruits are edible. === ''Erythrococca menyharthii'' ===''[[Erythrococca menyharthii]]'' (Pax) Prain occurs in East and southern tropical Africa. The roots are ground and eaten with honey against cough. Leaf sap is applied as drops in the eye as anti-venom after attacks by spitting snakes. The leaves are eaten as a vegetable and used to add taste to other vegetables. The fruits are edible.
== Ecology ==
== Author(s) ==
* L.P.A. Oyen , PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
== Correct citation of this article ==
Oyen, L.P.A., 2008. '''Erythrococca bongensis''' Pax. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. 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)]]