East African greenbark

Names and Synonyms

Common Names

• East African greenbark
• pepper-bark-tree
• East African Greenheart
• Elephant Pepper Tree
• Uganda Greenheart

Scientific Names

Accepted name

Sources: Wikidata, Catalogue of Life

Taxonomical Classification

This plant belongs to the kingdom Plantae and the phylum Streptophyta, falling under the class Equisetopsida and subclass Magnoliidae. Within the order Canellales, it is classified under the family Canellaceae. Finally, it is identified by its specific genus, Warburgia.

Sources: The World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP)

Distribution

This plant exhibits a wide geographical distribution across several regions of the African continent. In West-Central Tropical Africa, it can be found growing within the borders of Rwanda and the DR Congo. Moving toward the Northeast, the species is also documented in Ethiopia. Its range extends into East Tropical Africa, where it is present in Kenya. Finally, the distribution continues southward to include Tanzania.

Sources: The World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP)

Botanical Identification

Life history

The life history of Warburgia ugandensis is characterized by its status as a perennial plant, allowing it to persist in its ecosystem over many years. As a phanerophyte, it maintains its buds well above the ground level, typically manifesting as a woody tree or shrub that provides structural complexity to its habitat. The plant is evergreen, meaning it retains its foliage throughout the year rather than shedding it seasonally, ensuring continuous photosynthetic activity. This combination of a long-lived perennial lifecycle and a phanerophyte life form enables it to establish a stable and enduring presence within its native environment.

Deciduousness :

evergreen

Life form :

phanerophyte

Lifecycle :

perennial

Morphology

The morphology of Warburgia ugandensis is characterized by its growth form as a woody tree, which typically reaches an average height of 28.5 m. This species is a self-supporting plant, meaning it does not function as a climber such as a liana or vine, nor does it exhibit parasitic behavior, instead growing as an independent organism. It is strictly a terrestrial plant, lacking any aquatic, semiaquatic, or epiphytic characteristics, and maintains a robust, woody structure throughout its development.

Aquatic :

terrestrial

Climber :

self-supporting

Epiphyte :

terrestrial

Growth form :

tree

Parasite :

independent

Plant height mean:

28.5 m

Woodiness :

woody

Physiology

The physiology of Warburgia ugandenensis is characterized by a C3 photosynthetic pathway, which dictates its carbon fixation processes and metabolic efficiency in its native environmental conditions. As a plant utilizing the C3 pathway, it undergoes the Calvin cycle directly without the specialized carbon-concentrating mechanisms found in C4 or CAM species, making its metabolic activity highly dependent on ambient temperature and moisture levels. Furthermore, this species is not a nitrogen fixer, meaning it lacks the symbiotic relationship with diazotrophic bacteria required to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a usable form; instead, it relies on the uptake of inorganic nitrogen sources, such as nitrates and ammonium, from the surrounding soil through its root system to support its growth and biochemical functions.

Nitrogen fixer :

no

Photosynthetic pathway :

C3

Reproduction

The reproduction of Warburgia ugandenensis is characterized by the production of specific seed parameters that define its reproductive output. The seeds produced by this species exhibit a highly consistent profile, with a recorded seed mass mean of 5.78 g, a value that also serves as both the minimum and maximum seed mass recorded for the species. This uniformity in mass is complemented by a strictly consistent seed volume, which maintains a mean, minimum, and maximum value of 180 mm³. These precise morphological measurements indicate a stabilized reproductive strategy regarding the physical dimensions and weight of the seeds produced by the plant.

Seed mass mean:

5.78 g

Seed volume max:

180 mm³

Sources: Global Inventory of Floras and Traits (GIFT)

Plant Parts

Warburgia ugandensis has 2 reported plant parts identified across 3 scientific publications and several other databases that are studied for medicinal purposes. The most consistently reported plant part include stem, leaf.

Stem

1. African health sciences
2. African journal of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines : AJTCAM

Leaf

1. Phytochemistry

Chemicals

Warburgia ugandensis has 23 reported phytochemicals identified across 3 scientific publications and several other databases. The most consistently reported chemicals include Polygodial, Muzigadial, Ugandensidial, Warburganal, Epipolygodial.

Polygodial

1. Dr. Duke
2. Journal of natural products
3. Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology

Muzigadial

1. Dr. Duke
2. Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology

Ugandensidial

1. Dr. Duke
2. Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology

Warburganal

1. Dr. Duke
2. Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology

Epipolygodial

1. Dr. Duke

Fatty acids

1. PloS one

Kaempferol 3-arabinoside

1. Phytochemistry

Kaempferol-3-rutinoside

1. Phytochemistry

Muzigadiolide

1. Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids

1. PloS one

Activities

Warburgia ugandensis has 52 reported activities identified across 3 scientific publications and several other databases. The most consistently reported activities include Allergenic, Analgesic, Anthelmintic, AntiHIV, AntiReye's.

Allergenic

1. Dr. Duke

Analgesic

1. Dr. Duke

Anthelmintic

1. Dr. Duke

AntiHIV

1. Dr. Duke

AntiReye's

1. Dr. Duke

Antibacterial

1. Dr. Duke

Anticancer

1. Dr. Duke

Anticariogenic

1. Dr. Duke

Antidiarrheic

1. Dr. Duke

Antidysenteric

1. Dr. Duke

Conditions

Warburgia ugandensis has 15 reported investigations on conditions identified across 3 scientific publications and several other databases. The most consistently reported conditions include cancer, colorectal cancer, malaria, Candida albicans, Candida utilis.

Cancer

1. Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland)
2. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity
3. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland)

Colorectal cancer

1. Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland)
2. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity

Malaria

1. Frontiers in pharmacology
2. Tropical medicine and health

Candida albicans

1. African health sciences

Candida utilis

1. Journal of natural products

Plasmodium falciparum

1. Phytotherapy research : PTR

Saccharomyces cerevisiae

1. Journal of natural products

Staphylococcus aureus

1. African health sciences

Cervical cancer

1. Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland)

Fever

1. Frontiers in pharmacology

Preparations

Warburgia ugandensis has 12 reported preparations identified across 3 scientific publications and several other databases. The most consistently reported preparations include extracts, bark, complex extracts, crude extract, dimethyl carbonate extract of WU.

Extracts

1. Plants (Basel, Switzerland)
2. Frontiers in toxicology
3. Journal of ethnopharmacology

Bark

1. PloS one

Complex extracts

1. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland)

Crude extract

1. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity

Dimethyl carbonate extract of wu

1. Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland)

Ethanolic extracts

1. African health sciences

Extracts of warburgia ugandensis stem bark

1. African health sciences

Fraction 27-163 d

1. African health sciences

Petroleum ether extracts

1. African health sciences

Stem bark water extract

1. African journal of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines : AJTCAM