AFRICAN PLANTS, SHARED KNOWLEDGE
The plant encyclopedia.
Search our curated first edition by common or botanical name, family, region or plant part. Learn how preparations differ and what the evidence actually shows.
Understanding extraction methods ↗
12 of 12 profiles
Succulent
Cape aloe
Aloe ferox
Two very different materials come from an aloe leaf: inner gel and bitter exudate.
Southern AfricaRead plant profile ↗Aromatic herb
African wormwood
Artemisia afra
An aromatic African shrub with a long history of respiratory use and chemically variable oils.
Eastern and southern AfricaRead plant profile ↗Root extract
African geranium
Pelargonium sidoides
A useful example of why the exact extract matters when reading herbal clinical research.
Southern AfricaRead plant profile ↗Root extract
Devil’s claw
Harpagophytum procumbens
A desert-adapted plant whose secondary roots are used in defined herbal preparations.
Southern AfricaRead plant profile ↗Leaf preparation
Sutherlandia
Lessertia frutescens
Also called cancer bush: a traditional name that must not be mistaken for evidence of a cancer cure.
Southern AfricaRead plant profile ↗Tree medicine
Pepper-bark tree
Warburgia salutaris
A highly valued aromatic tree that illustrates the conservation cost of bark harvesting.
Southern AfricaRead plant profile ↗Corm preparation
African potato
Hypoxis hemerocallidea
A medicinal corm, unrelated to the familiar food potato, studied for a range of constituents.
Southern AfricaRead plant profile ↗Aromatic rhizome
African ginger
Siphonochilus aethiopicus
Traditional respiratory uses meet extraction research and community benefit-sharing.
Tropical and southern AfricaRead plant profile ↗Aromatic herb
Fever tea
Lippia javanica
A lemon-scented shrub used in traditional practice; an infusion and an essential oil are different preparations.
Eastern and southern AfricaRead plant profile ↗Aromatic leaf
Round-leaf buchu
Agathosma betulina
An aromatic Cape plant whose oil composition matters as much as its traditional reputation.
South Africa, Cape regionRead plant profile ↗Tree medicine
Sausage tree
Kigelia africana
A striking African tree whose fruit extracts appear in topical preparations, despite important raw-fruit hazards.
Tropical AfricaRead plant profile ↗Bark extract
African cherry
Prunus africana
Known in older literature as Pygeum africanum; a bark extract with preparation-specific evidence.
African montane forests, including KenyaRead plant profile ↗