''Atroxima afzeliana'' is a species of plant in the milkwort family ( Polygalaceae). It is endemic to rainforests and forest fringes with altitudes below in Western Tropical Africa. It was first described in 1868 by Daniel Oliver, at which point it was described as a new

Carpolobia ''Carpolobia'' is a genus of plants in the milkwort family ( Polygalaceae) that are native to Tropical Africa and Madagascar. It was first written about in 1831 by George Don, at which point 4 species were identified. In 1849, the number of ...

or a new genus. In 1905, Otto Stapf classified it into the

atroxima ''Atroxima'' is a plant genus in the milkwort family ( Polygalaceae). It is endemic to Western Tropical Africa. It was first described in 1905 by Otto Stapf in the ''Journal of the Linnean Society''. It was initially in the Polygalaeae tribe b ...

genus.

Description

''Atroxima afzeliana'' is a glabrous tree or shrub with a height of up to . It has sweeping branches and is sometimes scandent. Its leaves are leathery and

elliptical Elliptical may mean: * having the shape of an ellipse, or more broadly, any oval shape ** in botany, having an elliptic leaf shape ** of aircraft wings, having an elliptical planform * characterised by ellipsis (the omission of words), or by conc ...

. They are long and wide. It produces 6 to 10 flowers which are mauve or cream-coloured. It produces an orange, roughly spherical,

crustaceous Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

fruit which is about in diameter and edible.

Uses

Apart from the fruit being edible, the stem, root, and leaves of the plant are used as medicine to treat various illnesses.

References

Polygalaceae {{Polygalaceae-stub