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Africa, extending from South Africa northwards to Ethiopia and Arabia (Mazibuko,
2007).
Conservation status
No information was found concerning its conservation status.
Medicinal uses
Its bark and roots are used medicinally for the treatment of various ailments,
including rheumatism, gastrointestinal complaints and snake bites (Tas et al., 1991).
Warm bark infusions are used as expectorants in cough and chest problems while
root infusions are popular as a remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery. Decoctions of
roots and leaves are applied externally to boils, sores and glandular swellings not to
promote healing but for pain relief (Van Wyk et al., 1997).
Data from ethnobotanical survey
The leaves and stem of the plant are crushed and the juice is used to treat ear sores
(Gcabashe 2007, pers. comm).
Chemical content
Several alkaloids commonly referred to as peptide alkaloids are known from Ziziphus
species. About 12 structurally related alkaloids from this class have been isolated
from roots, stem bark and leaves of Ziziphus mucronata. Mucronine D is a typical
example (Van Wyk et al., 1997).
3.3. DISCUSSION
The sustainable management of traditional medicinal plant resources is very
important not only because of their value as a potential source of new drugs but also
due to society’s reliance on traditional medicinal plants for health. The majority of
people in the Ongoye area consult traditional healers for health care. With a few
exceptions, traditional medicinal plants are gathered from the wild. Certain plant
types which are the sources of supply of traditional medicines have drastically
declined due to forest clearance for agriculture, afforestation of montane grasslands,
uncontrolled burning of vegetation, and livestock grazing e.g. Warbugia salutaris.
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