Guiera

Guiera is a flowering plant genus in the family Combretaceae. Guiera senegalensis is the only species in the genus, found in Tropical Africa in dry areas from Senegal to Sudan (requiring much sunlight and light dry soil).[1] The plant produces the tannin 3,4,5-Tri-O-galloylquinic acid and several alkaloids of the harman family.[2]

Guiera
Inflorescence and flowers of Guiera senegalensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Combretaceae
Genus: Guiera
Adans. ex Juss.
Species:
G. senegalensis
Binomial name
Guiera senegalensis

Uses

The plant as a whole is often decorative, however the leaves are known as a medicinal 'cure-all' in Africa. It is known for helping coughs, being hypotensive, antidiarrhetic and anti-inflammatory. Its bark yields a marketable gum, branches for baskets, framework, and fences, roots for toothpicks, and smoke to repel flies.[1]

It is an indicator species of overgrazed land.[1]

Ecology

Guiera is a pioneer species, spread via animal dispersal and grows well in impoverished soil.

Hydraulic redistribution

Hydraulic redistribution (HR): When grown as a companion plant with millet water drawn up by Guiera senegalensis during the night is excreted by its roots and available to the millet, dramatically increasing its yield.[3]

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References
  1. "Guiera senegalensis - Useful Tropical Plants". tropical.theferns.info. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  2. Phytochemical and pharmacological study of roots and leaves of Guiera senegalensis J.F. gmel (combretaceae). Fiot Julien, Sanon Souleymane, Azas Nadine, Mahiou Valérie, Jansen Olivia, Angenot Luc, Balansard Guy and Ollivier Evelyne, Journal of ethnopharmacology, 2006, vol. 106, no2, pp. 173-178
  3. Nathaniel A. Bogie1; Roger Bayala; Ibrahima Diedhiou; Martha H. Conklin; Marilyn L. Fogel; Richard P. Dick; Teamrat A. Ghezzehei1 (September 18, 2018). "Hydraulic Redistribution by Native Sahelian Shrubs: Bioirrigation to Resist In-Season Drought". Frontiers in Environmental Science. 6: 98. doi:10.3389/fenvs.2018.00098. ISSN 2296-665X.


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