Phytolacca dodecandra

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Phytolacca dodecandra
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Caryophyllales Family: Phytolaccaceae Genus: Phytolacca Species: P. dodecandra
Binomial name
Phytolacca dodecandra Sessé & Moc.

Phytolacca dodecandra L'Herit, is a trailing shrub or climber from Africa, commonly known as African Soapberry or Endod.

Endod has been selected and cultivated by Africans for centuries, particularly in Ethiopia. It is used as a soap and shampoo as well as a poison to stun fish. Endod or እንዶድ in Amharic is lethal to snails - a fact discovered by Ethiopian scientists - and may be effective controlling schistosomiasis. After an Ethiopian scientist demonstrated endod's potency to American scientists, they took out a patent, hoping to sell endod as a biological control for the Zebra mussel, a pest in the Great Lakes of the US and Canada.

[edit] Sources

• ETC Group