Fabaceae FAMILY

Elephantorrhiza elephantina

Edibility

1/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

The seed is toxic to sheep (lethal dose 250 g), rabbits (lethal dose 5 - 7.5 g/kg) and guinea-pigs, causing gastro-enteritis and pulmonary oedema[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].

Botanical Description

Elephant root is a low shrub, producing at ground level annual stems 20 - 90 cm tall from the woody end of an elongate, often thickened rhizome up to 8 metres long[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The rhizomes and bark are collected from the wild as a source of tannins and dyes, and are sold in local markets in southern Africa[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical

Native RangeSouthern Africa - Namibia to Mozambique, south to S. Africa.

HabitatOften occurs gregariously in hot, dry areas with grassland and open scrub[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. Grassland and open Acacia-Combretum scrub at elevations of 1,060 - 1,360 metres[ 308 Title Flora Zambesiaca Publication Author Website http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants. ].