NAME: Dalbergia saxatilis
FAMILY NAME: Leguminosae
COMMON NAMES: Flat bean
LOCAL NAMES: Ogundu, Paran, runhun zaki, Obunzizi
MORPHOLOGY: Dalbergia saxatilis is usually a vigorous climbing shrub producing stems up to 20 metres long, though sometimes it remains smaller, growing as a shrub only 2 - 3 metres tall. The stem is usually up to 5cm in diameter near the base, but can occasionally reach 15cm. The branches are very tortuous, with some of them modified as woody spine hooks
USEFUL PART(S): Leaves, bark, roots
GENERAL USES: food and medicinal
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Senegal, DR Congo, Angola
WHY IS IT GREEN: Cough, small pox, skin lesions, bronchial ailments, toothache, treat leprosy, arthritis, rheumatism, small-pox, chicken-pox, measles, dropsy, swellings, oedema
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
FUN FACT: Dalbergia are important timber trees, valued for their decorative and often fragrant wood, rich in aromatic oils and are notorious for causing allergic reactions due to the presence of sensitizing quinones in the wood.
FURTHER READING:
Vatanparast M; Klitgård BB; FACB Adema; Pennington RT; Yahara T; Kajita T (2013). "First molecular phylogeny of the pantropical genus Dalbergia: implications for infrageneric circumscription and biogeography". S Afr J Bot. 89: 143–149. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2013.07.001
Cardoso D; Pennington RT; de Queiroz LP; Boatwright JS; Van Wyk B-E; Wojciechowskie MF; Lavin M (2013). "Reconstructing the deep-branching relationships of the papilionoid legumes". S Afr J Bot. 89: 58–75. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2013.05.001