Elaeodendron buchananii

Loes.

Celastraceae Edible: Poisonous, Fruit ?, Leaves - medicine Potential hazards — see below 32 iNaturalist observations

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Description

A shrub or small tree. It grows 5-12 m tall. It can be 30 m tall. The branches can have 4 lines and be angular. The leaves are The fruit is pale yellow.

Medicinal Uses

The leaves are used medicinally.

Known Hazards

The plant is known to be extremely poisonous. If children have been eating the fruits or the leaves and then take a drink of milk, they will die. Sheep are fatally poisoned by browsing on the plant. Feeding on the leaves may cause death in livestock after dyspnoea, loss of coordination and diarrhoea.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant.

Where It Grows

Africa, Cameroon, East Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda,

Cultivation

A slow-growing tree. The tree can be pollarded. The flowers are sweetly scented. A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Other Uses

The tree yields a gum, but no uses are recorded for it. A close relative of this species, Elaeodendron roxburgii Wight & Arn., is the source of a high quality gum in India. The heartwood is pale brown to reddish brown; it is distinctly demarcated from the whitish sapwood. The grain is straight or interlocked; texture moderately fine. The wood is heavy, hard, tough and moderately durable. It is fairly easy to saw; planes well; can be polished to a nice surface; turns well. The heartwood is difficult to impregnate with preservatives, the sapwood moderately difficult. It is used for joinery and furniture, and is suitable for heavy construction, heavy flooring, interior trim, ship building, vehicle bodies, mine props, handles, ladders, sporting goods, toys, novelties, turnery, pattern making, veneer and plywood. The wood is used for fuel and for making charcoal.