NAME: Deinbollia pinnata
FAMILY NAME: Sapindaceae
COMMON NAMES: Water willow
LOCAL NAMES: Ogiri-egba, Ekusi-Oloko
MORPHOLOGY: A small tree with strong, woody, glabrous or slightly grey-downy branches. Petiole 2–3 in. long; leaflets in 5–6 short-stalked pairs 1–2 in. apart, oblong, 3–4 in. long, half as broad, the point acute, the base a little rounded, the edge quite entire; texture coriaceous, colour pale green, both sides glabrous or the lower a little silvery with the veins and veinlets in relief. USEFUL PART(S): Leaves, root
GENERAL USES: For food and medicine
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo
WHY IS IT GREEN: Cough, bronchial asthma, aphrodisiac, genital stimulants/depressants
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The plant serves as brushwood fuel in Ghana
FUN FACT: The fruit use in superstition and magic
FURTHER READING:
Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
Govaerts, R. (2000). World Checklist of Seed Plants Database in ACCESS D: 1-30141.
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
Hutchinson, J., Dalziel, J.M. & Keay, R.W.J. (1954-1958). Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 1: 1-828.