Alchornea cordifolia

Alchornea cordifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Acalyphoideae
Tribe: Alchorneae
Subtribe: Alchorneinae
Genus: Alchornea
Species: A. cordifolia
Binomial name
Alchornea cordifolia
Müll.Arg.
Synonyms

Schousboea cordifolia
Alchornea cordata

Alchornea cordifolia is a shrub or small tree distributed throughout tropical Africa.

The plant is used in traditional African medicine. The leaves, roots and stem bark contain terpenoids, steroid glycosides, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, carbohydrates and the imidazopyrimidine alkaloids alchorneine, alchornidine, and several guanidine alkaloids. The leaves also contain a range of hydroxybenzoic acids: gallic acid and its ethyl ester, gentisic acid, anthranilic acid, protocatechuic acid, and ellagic acid (alizarine yellow). A C20 homolog of vernolic acid named alchornoic acid can be found in the seed oil.[1]

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