Botanical Name

Cassia occidentalis L. [Fabaceae]

Specimen Type

Herbarium Sheet [Preserved Specimen]

Collector

Peter Thonning

Collection Date-s

1799 – 1803

Collection Location

southern part of the country [Ghana]

Colonial Context

Danish Gold Coast of Africa 1663–1983

Annotations Determinations and Type Specimen Status

IDC microfiche foto: Isert et Thonning nr. 15 II 1-2

Ownership and Collection Management History

Thonning 12

Common Names

Bãsissa [Schumacher/Thonning]

Historical Cultural and Traditional Knowledge

[Hepper (1976) p. 34:] "Is used by the natives in different ways; e.g. the bark of the root is scraped off; boiled with pytto (native beer) and is drunk in cases of dysentery. The same bark is finely macerated along with a few grains-of-Paradise [Aframomum] and with aid of lemon-juice is made into an ointment with
which ringworm is coated over. The leaves are used to induce the opening of bowels and to soothe pains in the abdomen and are boiled for this purpose with pytto. The bark of the root has a bitter slightly astringent taste; it is said to be recommended as a good substitute for china-bark [Chinchona]. The
leaves have a stupefying odour which much resembles opium. Th."

Source

Herbarium C NHMD

NHMD Herbarium C Catalogue Number

C10003486

C10003486

Copyright Owner

Natural History Museum of Denmark

Copyright License

CC BY 4.0 (images) and CC0 (metadata)