NAME: Celastrus paniculatus

FAMILY: Celastraceae

COMMON NAMES: Staff tree, intellect tree

LOCAL NAMES: Mawo Olule

MORPHORLOGICAL DESCRIPTION:

Celastrus paniculatus is a deciduous, climbing shrub producing stems up to 10 metres long and 25cm in diameter, with its twine helping to support themselves by means of hooked prickles.

USEFUL PART(s): Bark,roots

GENERAL USES:

Young flowers are cooked and used as a vegetable.
Oil from seed is used as an an illuminant in lamps and also for soap making.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION:

East Asia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia

WHY IS IT GREEN?

Antimalarial
Antipyretic
Tuberculosis
Dysentery
Abortion

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

None known

FUN FACT

Fruits are used as blood tonic.

FURTHER READINGS

Bhanumathy, M., Harish, M. S., Shivaprasad, H. N., & Sushma, G. (2010). Nootropic activity of Celastrus paniculatus seed. Pharmaceutical Biology. https://doi.org/10.3109/13880200903127391

Borrelli, F., Borbone, N., Capasso, R., Montesano, D., De Marino, S., Aviello, G., Aprea, G., Masone, S., & Izzo, A. A. (2009). Potent relaxant effect of a Celastrus paniculatus extract in the rat and human ileum. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2009.02.003

Nalini, K., Karanth, K. S., Rao, A., & Aroor, A. R. (1995). Effects of Celastrus paniculatus on passive avoidance performance and biogenic amine turnover in albino rats. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-8741(95)01264-E

Phulwaria, M., Rai, M. K., Patel, A. K., Kataria, V., & Shekhawat, N. S. (2013). A genetically stable rooting protocol for propagating a threatened medicinal plant - Celastrus paniculatus. AoB PLANTS. https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/pls054

Valecha, R., & Dhingra, D. (2016). Behavioral and biochemical evidences for antidepressant-like activity of celastrus paniculatus seed oil in mice. Basic and Clinical Neuroscience.