Bridelia micrantha
{{short description|Species of tree from tropical and southern Africa}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Mitzeerie
|image = Bridelia_micrantha_leaves_12_08_2010.JPG
|image_caption = Fresh leaves of Bridelia micrantha from Amanzimtoti, South Africa
|status = LC
|status_system = IUCN3.1
|genus = Bridelia
|species = micrantha
|authority = (Hochst.) Baill. Under its treatment as Bridelia micrantha (from the basionym Candelabria micrantha) this name was first published in Adansonia 3: 164. 1862. {{ cite web |url=http://www.tropicos.org/Name/12802896 |title=Name - Bridelia micrantha (Hochst.) Baill. |work=Tropicos |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |location=Saint Louis, Missouri |accessdate=November 5, 2011}}
|synonyms =
}}
Bridelia micrantha, the mitzeeri or the coastal golden-leaf, is a tree in the family Phyllanthaceae and is native to tropical and southern Africa as well as to the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.{{Cite web|url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=24564|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|website=apps.kew.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-08-04}}
Description
A medium to tall tree (up to 20 m),Pooley, E. (1993). The Complete Field Guide to Trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei. {{ISBN|0-620-17697-0}}. with a dense widely spreading crown.Radcliffe-Smith A. Flora of West Tropical Africa, Vol 1 Part 2. The leaves are large, alternate and simple. The tree may be deciduous or evergreen.{{ cite web |work=Flora of Zimbabwe |title=Bridelia micrantha |url=http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=134700 |accessdate=September 2, 2010}}
Habitat
They are found growing in coastal forests (such as KwaZulu-Natal Coastal Lowland Forest), riverine forest, swamp forest, woodland and along forest margins.
Native distribution
Bridelia micrantha is native to primarily tropical, northeast, western, west-central, and southern Africa (in Angola; Benin; Burkina Faso; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Côte d'Ivoire; Equatorial Guinea; the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ethiopia; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Kenya; Liberia; Malawi; Mali; Mozambique; Nigeria; Rwanda; São Tomé and Príncipe; Senegal; Sierra Leone; South Africa (in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga; and Eswatini); Sudan; Tanzania (inclusive of the Zanzibar Archipelago); Togo; Uganda; Zambia; and Zimbabwe); and the western Indian Ocean island of Réunion.{{GRIN | accessdate=November 5, 2011}}
Ecological significance
Bridelia micrantha is a larval food plant for butterflies such as: Abantis paradisea, Charaxes castor flavifasciatus and Parosmodes morantii morantii,{{cite web |url=http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantab/brideliamicrantha.htm |title=Bridelia micrantha |website=www.plantzafrica.com |access-date=2 September 2010}} and also the silkmoth Anaphe panda.2008 Research Paper:
Spatial distribution of cocoon nests and egg clusters of the silkmoth Anaphe panda (Lepidoptera: Thaumetopoeidae) and its host plant Bridelia micrantha (Euphorbiaceae) in the Kakamega Forest of western Kenya. {{doi|10.1017/S1742758407859662}}
Ethnobotanical medicinal use
Bridelia micrantha has been used locally in folk medicine, variously as an anti-abortifacient, an antidote, a laxative or purgative; and to treat diverse conditions of the central nervous system (headache), eye (infections, conjunctivitis), the gastrointestinal system (abdominal pain, constipation, gastritis), respiratory system (common cold), and the skin (scabies);{{cite web|author=James A. Duke |title=Bridelia micrantha (EUPHORBIACEAE) |publisher=Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases |url=https://phytochem.nal.usda.gov/phytochem/ethnoPlants/show/585 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111165522/https://phytochem.nal.usda.gov/phytochem/ethnoPlants/show/585 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 11, 2018 |accessdate=November 5, 2011}} and used hygienically as a mouthwash.
References
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External links
{{WestAfricanPlants|Bridelia micrantha}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3644510}}
Category:Plants described in 1843
Category:Butterfly food plants
Category:Plants used in traditional African medicine
Category:Taxa named by Henri Ernest Baillon
Category:Taxa named by Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Hochstetter