PROTA homepage Prota 11(1): Medicinal plants/Plantes mιdicinales 1
Record display
Basananthe sandersonii (Harv.) W.J.de Wilde

Protologue
Blumea 21(2): 339 (1973).
Family
Passifloraceae
Synonyms
Tryphostemma longifolium Harms (1891).
Origin and geographic distribution
Basananthe sandersonii occurs from Tanzania south to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland.
Uses
In Tanzania the roots are chewed and the juice taken internally to treat snakebites.
Botany
Perennial herb up to 60 cm tall, with woody rootstock; stems erect or prostrate at base. Leaves alternate, simple; stipules linear, 1.5–5 mm long; petiole 0–5 mm long; blade orbicular, broadly ovate, obovate or elliptical, 2–16 cm Χ 1–4 cm, base rounded or cuneate, apex rounded or obtuse, margins toothed, glaucous beneath. Inflorescence an axillary cyme, 1–3-flowered, often with a tendril 0.5–2(–5) cm long; peduncle up to 4.5 cm long; bracts 1–4 mm long. Flowers bisexual, regular, campanulate; pedicel 3–17 mm long, pale yellow; hypanthium 2–4 mm wide; sepals 5(–7), 4.5–8.5 mm long, apex obtuse; petals absent or rarely 2; outer corona blue, with tube 1–2 mm high and threads 0.5–1.5 mm long, inner corona 1–1.5 mm high, cup-shaped; stamens 5, inserted at the inner corona, filaments 1.5–4 mm long; ovary superior, obovoid, 1–1.5 mm long, 1-celled, styles 3(–4), free, 3–4 mm long, stigma head-shaped. Fruit an obovoid capsule 1.5–2 cm long, pendulous, 1–4-seeded. Seeds 6–10 mm long.
Basananthe comprises about 25 species in continental Africa. Basananthe heterophylla Schinz is an annual or occasionally short-lived perennial herb up to 50 cm tall, occurring in Namibia and Botswana at 900–1500 m altitude. A root decoction from it is used in Namibia to treat coughs.
Ecology
Basananthe sandersonii occurs in grassland, open scrub vegetation and forest edges on sandy and rocky soils, up to 1700 m altitude.
Genetic resources and breeding
Basananthe sandersonii is a widespread pioneer plant and thus not at risk of genetic erosion.
Prospects
In view of the medicinal use on record and the complete lack of chemical and pharmacological data, research into the properties of Basananthe sandersonii may prove worthwhile.
Major references
• de Wilde, W.J.J.O., 1973. Revision of Basananthe, formerly Tryphostemma (Passifloraceae). Blumea 21: 327–356.
• Kokwaro, J.O., 1993. Medicinal plants of East Africa. 2nd Edition. Kenya Literature Bureau, Nairobi, Kenya. 401 pp.
• Neuwinger, H.D., 2000. African traditional medicine: a dictionary of plant use and applications. Medpharm Scientific, Stuttgart, Germany. 589 pp.
Other references
• Bernhard, A., 1999. Flower structure, development, and systematics in Passifloraceae and in Abatia (Flacourtiaceae). International Journal of Plant Science 160(1): 135–150.
• von Koenen, E., 2001. Medicinal, poisonous and edible plants in Namibia. Klaus Hess Verlag, Gφttingen, Germany. 336 pp.
Author(s)
• A. de Ruijter
PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands


Editors
• G.H. Schmelzer
PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
• A. Gurib-Fakim
Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Rιduit, Mauritius
Associate editors
• C.H. Bosch
PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
• M.S.J. Simmonds
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AB, United Kingdom
• R. Arroo
Leicester School of Pharmacy, Natural Products Research, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, United Kingdom
• A. de Ruijter
PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
General editors
• R.H.M.J. Lemmens
PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
• L.P.A. Oyen
PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands

Correct citation of this article:
de Ruijter, A., 2007. Basananthe sandersonii (Harv.) W.J.de Wilde. In: Schmelzer, G.H. & Gurib-Fakim, A. (Editors). Prota 11(1): Medicinal plants/Plantes mιdicinales 1. [CD-Rom]. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands.