Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil

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Description

Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan var. cebil (Griseb.) Altschul is a mimosa-like timber tree native to Caatinga and Cerrado vegetation in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru. It has also be introduced to Mauritius. It grows up to 25m tall, with a trunk diameter of 60-90cm.^[1][2] The tree's mimosa-like leaves range in length from about 7-20 cm. The flowers are cream-colored and arrive in the spring. The seed pods are fairly straight and contain about 8 to 15 seeds each. The seeds are flat, average each about 1.5 cm in diameter and have an average mass of about 0.125 g each. The tree's wood has a density of about 0.840 kg/dm^3[3]

Uses

Gum

Gum from the tree can be used in the same way as gum arabic.^[4]

Honey

This tree used as a honey plant.^[2]

Medicine

The tree is a medicinal plant.^[2] The bark is the most-used part of the tree for this. An extract of grated bark is taken for liver problems. A syrup of the bark and resin is used to treat upper respiratory infections and angina pectoris. Bark extract is taken for treating gonorrhea. Small amounts of roasted, powdered seeds are snuffed for headaches and colds.^[3]

Ornamental tree

The tree is an ornamental plant, and it is especially useful as an urban tree.^[2]

Tannin

The tree's bark contains 15.38% tannin. The seed pods contain 3% tannin and the heartwood contains 1.8%.^[2][5]

Wood

The wood is very hard and it dulls cutting tools. The heartwood is quite durable. The tree's wood is used for outdoor construction, marine applications, railroad ties and implement handles.^[2]

Alkaloids

Bufotenin and Dimethyltryptamine have been isolated from the seeds and seed pods, 5-MeO-DMT from the bark of the stems.^[3] The seeds were found to contain 12.4% bufotenine, 0.06% 5-MeO-DMT and 0.06% DMT.^[6]

Conservation

A. colubrina var. cebil is very much sought for its wood and bark (for medicinal purposes) and so it is being destructively cut down by industry. Since the tree is beautiful and useful, calls are being made to plant trees near communities that use them, so that sustainable harvesting of the tree can be accomplished.^[7]

Propagation

The seeds can be placed between a folded damp paper towel in a sealable plastic sandwich bag for a few days until the seeds sprout. They can then be planted 1cm deep in well-drained containers.^[8] Once watered, is important to let the growing medium dry out well, before watering again.^[9]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} ILDIS LegumeWeb
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} USDA Forest Service
3. ^ ^{a b c} Herbotechnica (Spanish)
4. ^ Anadenanthera: Visionary Plant of Ancient South America By Constantino Manuel Torres, David B. Repke, p. 98
5. ^ Google Books Anadenanthera: Visionary Plant of Ancient South America By Constantino Manuel Torres, David B. Repke p. 96
6. ^ Erowid
7. ^ Acta Botanica Brasilica Print ISSN 0102-3306 Acta Bot. Bras. vol.19 no.1 São Paulo Jan./Mar. 2005 Use of plant resources in a seasonal dry forest (Northeastern Brazil)
8. ^ Growing Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil Plot55
9. ^ Lila

See also

• Anadenanthera colubrina
• List of honey plants
• List of plants of Caatinga vegetation of Brazil
• List of plants of Cerrado vegetation of Brazil