Guilandina bonduc

Family: Fabaceae Genus: Guilandina Species: bonduc

Synonyms: Guilandina gemina, Bonduc minus, Caesalpinia bonducella var. inaequiaculeata, Caesalpinia homblei, Bonduc canadense, Caesalpinia bonducella var. aequiaculeata, Guilandina socorroensis, Caesalpinia bonducella, Guilandina glabra, Guilandina homblei, Guilandina bonduc var. minor, Guilandina aculeata, Caesalpinia sogerensis, Caesalpinia bonduc, Caesalpinia jayabo var. cyanosperma, Caesalpinia jayabo var. gemina, Glycyrrhiza aculeata, Guilandina vulgaris, Caesalpinia bonducella var. elegans, Guilandina bonduc var. major, Caesalpinia glabra, Guilandina bonducella

Western Herbalism Properties

Actions:

bitterantimicrobialanti-inflammatory

Botanical Description

Guilandina bonduc (syn. Caesalpinia bonduc), known as grey nicker or fever nut, is a pantropical scrambling or climbing shrub in the legume family Fabaceae. It grows along coastal sands, thickets and disturbed sites throughout the tropics. Stems are vigorous, armed with stout recurved prickles, and may reach several metres in length. The leaves are large, bipinnate, with numerous opposite pinnae each bearing several pairs of ovate-oblong leaflets, the entire rachis prickly. Inflorescences are dense axillary racemes of pale yellow flowers with five somewhat unequal petals. Fruits are inflated, ovoid pods densely covered with sharp bristles, splitting to release one or two hard, smooth, lead-grey globose seeds about 1.5 to 2 centimetres across. The seeds are buoyant and salt-tolerant, dispersed by ocean currents — accounting for the species' pantropical strand-line distribution.

Native Region: Aldabra, Andaman Is., Assam, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Burkina, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Caroline Is., Cayman Is., Central American Pac, Chagos Archipelago, China South-Central, China Southeast, Christmas I., Cocos (Keeling) Is., Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Himalaya, Fiji, Florida, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Guyana, Hainan, Haiti, Honduras, India, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jawa, Kazan-retto, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Laccadive Is., Laos, Leeward Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Louisiana, Madagascar, Malaya, Maldives, Maluku, Marcus I., Marianas, Marquesas, Marshall Is., Mauritius, Mexico Gulf, Mozambique, Mozambique Channel I, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New South Wales, Nicaragua, Nicobar Is., Nigeria, Norfolk Is., Northern Territory, Ogasawara-shoto, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Rodrigues, Réunion, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Society Is., Solomon Is., Somalia, South China Sea, Southwest Caribbean, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad-Tobago, Turks-Caicos Is., Venezuela, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Windward Is., Yemen, Zambia, Zaïre

Cultural & Historical Context

Traditional American Uses

In the Caribbean and tropical Americas, the hard grey seeds of Guilandina bonduc have been used in folk medicine. Decoctions of the powdered seed kernel have been taken for intermittent fevers and as a bitter tonic, while leaf and bark preparations have been applied externally for skin complaints and inflammation (Liogier, 1990; Morton, 1981).

Chemistry & External Identifiers

Trefle ID

377558

Important Disclaimer

This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.

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