Scientific Name :Bersama abyssinicaFRESEN. Subsp. Paullinioides var. ugandensis Vernacular Name :Umukaka, umuturamugina. Family name :Melianthaceae Geographic Distribution : Mountainous area, 2000 -2500 m.
Botanical Description Sbrub to small tree. Compound imparipinnate leaves, which may reach I m long; winged axis
Or nt winged, 10 pairs of folioles,with leaf blade generally spear shaped to oblong or oval – oblong of 2-22 cm long and 1-8 cm wide. Leaf blade densly covered with white hairs on the inferior leaf face, foliole axis distinctly winged.
Medicinal Use The leaves crushed are used as snuff for colds, or chewed as an aphrodiac. Juice from the bark is used by Arusha people as a purgative. Dried powdered bark or its decoction is used as an enthelmintic for small children. The extract from young twigs is also drunk for the treatment of dysentery and roundworm. A root decoction is drunk thrice a day for epilepsy, and also drunk for for Haemorrhoids and some used for washing the wounds.
