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<big>''[[Connarus africanus]]'' Lam.</big>
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Connarus africanus'' (PROTA)}}
:Protologue: Encycl. 2(1): 95 (1786).
== Synonyms ==
*''Connarus nigrensis'' Gilg (1891). == Vernacular names ==
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
The taeniacidal activity has been ascribed to the presence of tannin in bark and seeds. However, in a closely related species from South-East Asia, ''Connarus monocarpus'' L., the presence of benzoquinones, such as rapanone and embelin, has been demonstrated. Although the phytochemistry of ''Connarus africanus'' has not been investigated, similar compounds might partly explain the attributed medicinal activities.
== Botany Description ==
*Liana or lianescent shrub, with lenticellate branches. *Leaves alternate, 3-foliolate; stipules absent; petiole 2.5–14 cm long, rachis 1.5–4 cm long; leaflets ovate or elliptical, (4–)6.5–25 cm × 2–9.5 cm, rounded at base, acuminate at apex, entire, papery, glabrous, pinnately veined. *Inflorescence an axillary panicle up to 35 cm long, usually many together near ends of branches and then appearing terminal and compound, densely brown-pubescent, up to 50-flowered. *Flowers bisexual, regular, 5-merous, heterodistylous; pedicel short, articulate; sepals ovate, up to 4 mm long, glandular punctate; petals usually coherent, narrowly elliptical to narrowly obovate, up to 8 mm long, glandular punctate; stamens 10, united at base, alternately long and short; ovary superior, brown hairy, style longer or shorter than long stamens. *Fruit a narrowly obovoid, slightly oblique follicle up to 6 cm long, shortly stiped at base, red, glabrous outside, glandular inside, 1-seeded. *Seed ovoid, up to 3 cm long, shining black, with yellowish sarcotesta at base. *Seedling with hypogeal germination; cotyledons planoconvex, staying within the testa; first leaves 1-foliolate. == Other botanical information ==
''Connarus'' comprises about 75 species and is pantropical. In Africa, 7 species occur. The Central African ''Connarus congolanus'' Schellenb. closely resembles ''Connarus africanus'', but differs in its more leathery leaflets, thicker sepals, petals not connivent, and fruit not stiped and pilose inside.
== Ecology ==
== Author(s) ==
* R.H.M.J. Lemmens , PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
== Correct citation of this article ==
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[[Category:PROTA prov]][[Category:Medicinal plants (PROTA)]]