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Combretum micranthum
Combretum micranthum, known as kinkeliba or opium antidote, is a scrambling shrub or small tree of West and Central African savannah. Its leaves are steeped into a traditional tea, and it is not commonly grown as an ornamental houseplant.
Combretum micranthum is a species of flowering plant in the family Combretaceae. It is a shrub known as kinkeliba in Guinea, Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali and the Gambia across multiple regional dialects, where it is often found in tiger bush and on hills in West Africa. It is used for making tea and has uses in traditional medicine, and is used by many West African Muslims during Ramadan to break their fast. The name kinkeliba is believed to come from the Fulani language. It is referred to as sekhew in the Wolof language and ŋɔlɔbɛ in the Bambara language.
The branches are quite strong, and are a useful material for building stools, beds, tool handles. A tea made by steeping the leaves in boiling water is a traditional tonic drink in tropical savannah countries such as Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso. Among West African Muslims, especially Wolofs, Fulas, and Mandinkas, the leaves, bark, and twigs of kinkeliba are harvested and sold in bundles during the dry season leading up to and during the month of Ramadan. Kinkiliba is used daily to brew a strong tea that is mixed with sugar and milk and is drunk with bread at sundown as a means of breaking the daily fast.
Combretum aculeatum · Powderpuff Combretum · Combretum fruticosum · Leadwood · Rangoon Creeper · Combretum obscurum · Combretum trifoliatum · Large-fruited bushwillow · Combretums
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Combretum micranthum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
