Kenyan herbal plant among new species under study in 2010

A Kenyan plant that grows in the Aberdares Mountains has found its way in the 2010 plant discovery highlights.

The plant commonly known as Osigawai in the local Maasai language or by its biological name, Medicinal aubergine (Solanum phoxocarpum) was under study by a group of botanical scientists in London.

It is described as a shrub or small tree that grows at high altitudes in Kenyan and Tanzanian mountains and can grow up to 6 metres tall, and has unusual long, yellow, pointed fruits and mauve flowers.

Kew botanist

It was recognised as a new species by Kew botanist Dr Maria Vorontsova during fieldwork in Kenya’s Aberdare Mountains in April 2009.

The plant was discovered during an expedition to Kenya’s Aberdare mountainous cloud forests.

These “discoveries” however do not appear to give credit to residents — in Kenya’s case, the Maasai — who must have made the original discovery centuries earlier.

Osigawai, for example, is used medicinally by local people, but Kew scientists say it may be poisonous. The scientists are part of the Royal botanic gardens which is a scientific institution with collections of living and preserved plants, of plant products and botanical information.

Other uses of the plant include as a hedges (Kenya, recorded in 1939), and as an fruit (Kenya, recorded in 1965).

The roots are boiled in water and the liquid mixed with a broth and taken as a remedy for gonorrhoea.

The ripe dry fruits can also be roasted and then ground to a powder, and mixed with butter to give to babies, although the purpose of this has not been recorded elsewhere. This use was recorded in Kenya in 1961, however.

It forms an encyclopaedia of knowledge about the plant kingdom and has made important contributions to increasing the understanding of the plant kingdom with many benefits for mankind.

It’s possible that the Maasai know its existence and have probably used it for medicinal purposes.

However, nobody knows what kinds of animals eat the fruits of the osigawai plant.

The plant is amongst others described by scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London during their botanical studies.

It is described as one of the wild spiny aubergine species of Africa.

Other plants recognised by the group of scientists include a plant whose genome is 50 times the size of the human genome — so large that if this line of genetic code was to be stretched out, it would be taller than the tower of Big Ben.

Known as Paris japonica, scientists warn that plants with such large genomes may be at greater risk of extinction as biologists believe they are less able to adapt to environmental changes.

The research team discovered a new plant known as Helixanthera schizocalyx, and identified it as a new plant in science.

Butterfly specialist, Colin Congdon, spotted the mistletoe in the dense foliage near the summit of Mount Mabu.

The new species of tropical mistletoe was described as different from anything he had seen on the mountains in neighbouring Malawi and Tanzania. Closer inspection back at Kew confirmed it as a new species.

Mistletoes are “hemi-parasitic”, meaning they take some of the nutrients they need from other plants.

The plant may not be extinct because its habitat is protected by a network of National Parks in Kenya and Tanzania, including the Aberdare National Park (Kenya), Mount Kenya National Park (Kenya) and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Tanzania).