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EUPHORBIACEAE
The cake left after the extraction of oil containing poisonous resin is used as a fertilizer.
Medicinally, the fresh leaves are used externally for headaches and as a poultice for boils
and rheumatism. The Zulus apply a paste of the root for toothache. The root bark is a purgative
and it is also effective in skin diseases, burns and sores. A poultice of the leaves is applied
to breasts of women to increase the secretion of milk. Internally,.a decoction of the leaves acts
as a I act agog uc and emmenagogue. The crushed seeds are used by the Chinese to relieve
scrofulous sores.
Although the seed is poisonous, the oil extracted is a mild purgative, adaptable to infants
and young children. It is a valuable drug in diarrhoea caused by indigestible food and for acute
dysentery if prescribed at the very outset. It is the most reliable purgative for obstinate
constipation.
In Southern Rhodesia the Africans use the bark for-stitching up wounds and as a dressing
for sores. In Libya, the pounded leaf cooked in oil is used in the treatment of framboesia and
in Somaliland, the oil is rubbed on rheumatic joints. The local application of the leaf to the
mammae is said to produce a powerful galactogogic action. The root is a remedy for abdominal
pains and diarrhoea, while the root bark is a purgative. In Vietnam, the plant is used as a diaphoretic
and diuretic. In India the root and leaves are used in rheumatism, lumbago, sciatica,
pleurodynia and certain skin diseases. The dried root is used as a febrifuge and in the treatment
of jaundice and nervous disorders. The seed is poisonous causing vomiting and purging. It
is used to poison rats and moles. In Ceylon, the root of the plant is used in pleurodynia, and
rheumatic pains while the seeds are used for lumbago and sciatica.
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