''Manilkara obovata'' is small to large sized evergreen tree within the
Sapotaceae
240px, '' Madhuca longifolia'' var. ''latifolia'' in Narsapur, Medak district, India
The Sapotaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants belonging to the order (biology), order Ericales. The family includes about 800 species of ev ...
family. Its timber is sold under the name Nkunya in
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
. The species has a wide distribution from Sierra Leone in
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
moving east to Uganda in Eastern Africa and southwards to Zambia. It is also considered a variable species having different
ecotypes
In evolutionary ecology, an ecotype,Greek: ''οίκος'' = home and ''τύπος'' = type, coined by Göte Turesson in 1922 sometimes called ecospecies, describes a genetically distinct geographic variety, population, or race within a species, ...
.
Taxonomy
''Manilkara obovata'' is a wide spread and variable species that occurs in West and Central Africa. ''Chrysoplyllum obovatum'', now a synonym of the species showed similarities both in flower appearance and its leaf blade outline and leaf surface with those of ''Manilkara lacera'', both are considered to be part of ''Manilkara obovata'' complex of species, though they tend to be smaller and commonly found around rocky rapids and mountains.
Description
A scaly brown barked tree that can grow up to 40 meters tall; tall and mature trees have narrow buttressed roots up to 2 meters, the trunk is straight and up to 25 meters branchless; slash is fibrous, pale-pink with whitish exudate.
Leaves, simple, alternate arrangement and tufted at the ends of branches, the stipules are small, grows up to 1.5 mm long; Leaf-blade is narrowly elliptical to obovate in outline, 5-16 cm long and 2-8 cm wide, it has a coriaceous surface that is greyish to green in color and densely pubescent and pale beneath.
Flowers are pale yellow to white, clusters of 3-4 on leaf axils, sepals are 6 in two distinct whorls of 3. Fruit is an orange colored berry when ripe that is up to 3 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter, it is 2-3 seeded.
Chemistry
Test on stem bark, root and leaf extracts of the species identified phenyl-
coumarin
Coumarin () or 2''H''-chromen-2-one is an aromatic organic chemical compound with formula . Its molecule can be described as a benzene molecule with two adjacent hydrogen atoms replaced by a lactone-like chain , forming a second six-membered h ...
derivatives,
xanthones
Xanthone is an organic compound with the molecular formula O 6H4sub>2CO. It is a white solid.
In 1939, xanthone was introduced as an insecticide and it currently finds uses as ovicide for codling moth eggs and as a larvicide. Xanthone is also ...
, saponins, triterpenes and flavonoids.
Calophyllic acid, canophyllic acid, and isocalophyllic acid were obtained from extracts of leaves of the species, while xanthones, friedelin, friedelanol and oleanolic acid were obtained from stem bark and root extracts.
Uses
The root is prepared and used as a laxative, while stem bark is used as part of a regimen to treat stomach ailment.
References
{{taxonbar, from1=Q15330265
Flora of West Tropical Africa
obovata