About Bridelia micrantha (Hochst.) Baill.
Bridelia micrantha (Hochst.) Baill. is described as a medium to tall tree that can reach up to 20 m in height, with a dense, widely spreading crown. It has large, alternate, simple leaves, and the species can be either deciduous or evergreen. This tree grows in multiple habitats including coastal forests such as KwaZulu-Natal Coastal Lowland Forest, riverine forest, swamp forest, woodland, and along forest margins. It is native across much of Africa, primarily across tropical, northeastern, western, west-central, and southern Africa. Its native range includes Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa (Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga), Eswatini, Sudan, Tanzania (including the Zanzibar Archipelago), Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, as well as the western Indian Ocean island of Réunion. In local folk medicine, Bridelia micrantha has a variety of ethnobotanical uses. It is used as an anti-abortifacient, an antidote, a laxative, and a purgative. It is also used to treat a range of conditions: central nervous system conditions including headache, eye conditions including infections and conjunctivitis, gastrointestinal system conditions including abdominal pain, constipation, and gastritis, respiratory system conditions including the common cold, and skin conditions including scabies. It is also used hygienically as a mouthwash.
