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Erythrophleum couminga is a deciduous leguminous tree from western Madagascar, growing up to 20 m in dry, sandy woodland. Its bark and flowers are highly toxic, so it is a plant to observe rather than handle.
Erythrophleum couminga is a species of leguminous tree in the genus Erythrophleum. It is endemic to the western coastal region of Madagascar, occurring in the Baie de Baly National Park. The bark is used in traditional medicine and the branches are used for fencing posts.
This tree is endemic to Madagascar; its range extends for about 400 km (250 mi) along the western coast of the country in a strip around 40 km (25 mi) wide, and not occurring more than 600 m (2,000 ft) above sea level. It grows in mixed deciduous woodland and wooded savannas, in association with palm trees, preferring sandy soils.
The timber of this tree is durable and resistant to rot but is little used apart from making fencing posts. The foliage is poisonous to cattle, and the flowers and the bark are even more toxic. The bark contains complex diterpenoid alkaloids and is powdered and used in traditional medicine in very small quantities as a laxative. In larger quantities, an extract of the bark is a powerful, cardiac poison, rapidly causing shortness of breath, convulsions and cardiac arrest. In the past, the bark has been used as a poison in trials by ordeal, a custom continuing in Madagascar into the mid-nineteenth century.
African Blackwood · Cooktown Ironwood · Erythrophleum fordii · Ordealtree · Sasswood
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Erythrophleum couminga 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.
