Table 1.

Medicinal Fabaceae plants of Zimbabwe.

Plant Taxa	Habit	Parts Used	Medicinal Uses	Literature Records	References
Abrus precatorius L. subsp. africanus Verdc. +1	Climber	Leaves, roots and seeds	Bilharzia (schistosomiasis), sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and lucky charms	4	[25,26,27,28]
Aeschynomene mimosifolia Vatke 1	Shrub	Roots	Chest pains and headache	1	[25]
Afzelia quanzensis Welw. 2	Tree	Bark, fruits and root bark	Bloated stomach, blood pressure, depressed fontanelle, haemorrhoids and stomach problems, lucky charms and painful udders in cattle	2	[25,28]
Albizia amara (Roxb.) Boivin 2	Tree	Bark, leaves and roots	Aphrodisiac, constipation, diarrhoea, dilating the birth canal, dysentery, oedema, painful placenta, palpitations, pneumonia, purgative, stomach problems, tuberculosis (TB), warts, and protection against witchcraft	5	[25,28,29,30,31]
Albizia adianthifolia (Schumach.) W.Wight 2	Tree	Roots	Ethnoveterinary medicine	2	[32,33]
Albizia anthelmintica (A.Rich.) Brongn. 2	Shrub	Bark	Wounds	1	[25]
Albizia antunesiana Harms 2	Tree	Bark, bark sap, leaves and roots	Abdominal pains, aphrodisiac, bilharzia, constipation, depressed fontanelle, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, infertility in women, menstrual problems, painful legs, painful uterus, preventing abortion, purgative, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), sore eyes, sore throat and swollen legs	8	[25,26,27,28,34,35,36,37]
Albizia tanganyicensis Baker 2	Tree	Bark and roots	Cough and swollen legs	1	[25]
Albizia versicolor Welw. ex Oliv. 2	Tree	Roots	Erectile dysfunction, infertility in men and sexual impotence	3	[25,28,29]
*Arachis hypogaea L. 1	Herb	Leaves	Cataracts, infertility in women and sore eyes	1	[25]
Baikiaea plurijuga Harms 2	Tree	Bark	Bloated stomach and haemorrhoids	1	[28]
Bauhinia galpinii N.E.Br. 3	Shrub	Roots and seeds	Infertility and menstrual problems	2	[25,28]
Bauhinia petersiana Bolle 3	Tree	Roots	Depressed fontanelle, infertility in women, menstrual problems and preventing witchcraft	2	[25,28]
Bobgunnia madagascariensis (Desv.) J.H. Kirkbr. & Wiersema 1	Tree	Fruits, pods and roots	Abdominal pains, convulsions, diarrhoea, emetic, earache, headache, infertility in men and women, oedema, stomach problems, syphilis and wounds	3	[25,28,34]
Bolusanthus speciosus (Bolus) Harms 1	Tree	Leaves	Bile emesis and emetic	1	[25]
Brachystegia boehmii Taub. 2	Tree	Bark, leaves, roots and twigs	Abdominal pains, antivenom, back pain, cataracts, heart problems, mental problems, sore eyes, STIs, toothache, constipation and lumbago in ruminants	5	[25,28,34,36,37]
Brachystegia spiciformis Benth. 2	Tree	Bark, fibre and roots	Constipation, diarrhoea, mental problems, pain, sore eyes and wounds	3	[25,28,38]
Burkea africana Hook. 2	Tree	Bark, leaves and roots	Abdominal pains, anti-inflammatory, bilharzia, cancer, diarrhoea, fever, immune system booster, infections, oedema and ulcers	3	[25,26,39]
* Cajanus cajan (L.) Huth. 1	Shrub	Leaves	Earache	1	[25]
Cassia abbreviata Oliv. 2	Tree	Bark, fruits, roots and twigs	Abdominal pains, abortifacient, aphrodisiac, backache, bilharzia, cancer, constipation, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, hydrocele, lucky charms, malaria, menstrual problems, stomach pains, STDs and venereal diseases	11	[25,26,27,28,34,35,36,37,38,40,41,42]
Colophospermum mopane (J.Kirk ex Benth.) J.Léonard 2	Tree	Bark, charcoal, leaves	Constipation, diarrhoea, snake bite and diarrhoea in cattle	3	[25,28,38]
Crotalaria laburnifolia L. 1	Herb	Roots	Cough	1	[25]
Crotalaria rogersii Bak.f. 1	Herb	Roots	Infertility in women and lucky charms	1	[25]
Dalbergia melanoxylon Guill. & Perr. 1	Shrub	Bark	Asthma and wounds	3	[37,38,43]
Dalbergia nitidula Welw. ex Bak. 1	Shrub	Bark and roots	Aphrodisiac, driving away bad spirits, preventing witchcraft and ulcers	1	[25]
Dalbergiella nyasae Bak.f. 1	Tree	Leaves and roots	Tetanic contractions and driving away maggots from wounds	1	[25]
Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight & Arn. 2	Tree	Leaves, fruits or roots	Abdominal pains, antivenom, backache, cancer, colic, contraceptive, cough, depressed fontanelle, diarrhoea, dilating the birth canal, epistaxis, infertility in women, influenza, inducing labour, mental problems, oedema, postpartum, scabies, scorpion stings, STDs, stomach problems, syphilis, urticaria (skin swellings) and wounds	8	[25,28,29,31,34,35,38,40]
Dolichos kilimandscharicus Taub. 1	Herb	Tubers	Abdominal pains, antiemetic, constipation, diarrhoea and measles	1	[25]
Elephantorrhiza burkei Benth. 2	Shrub	Roots	Antiemetic, constipation, increasing blood in the body and postpartum conditions	1	[25]
Elephantorrhiza elephantina (Burch.) Skeels 2	Shrub	Roots	Abdominal pains, aphrodisiac, infertility in women, postpartum conditions and reducing the size of the vagina	3	[25,34,44]
Elephantorrhiza goetzei (Harms) Harms 2	Shrub	Bark, rhizomes or roots	Abdominal pains, anthelmintic, backache, bilharzia, bloating, blood pressure, boosting appetite, constipation, cough, depressed fontanelle, diarrhoea, dilating the birth canal, erectile function, fever, gonorrhoea, heart pains, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) opportunistic infections, increasing blood in the body, infertility, influenza, malaria, painful uterus, postpartum conditions, rash, STIs and stomach problems	11	[25,26,27,28,31,34,35,36,37,38,41]
Elephantorrhiza suffruticosa Schinz 2	Shrub	Roots	Constipation and diarrhoea	1	[25]
Eriosema englerianum Harms 1	Shrub	Leaves and roots	Aphrodisiac, backache, bilharzia, blood pressure, infertility in women, menstrual problems, painful uterus, venereal disease and wasting in infants	3	[25,27,31]
Eriosema rhynchosioides Bak. 1	Shrub	Roots	Tonic	1	[25]
Erythrina abyssinica Lam. ex DC. 1	Tree	Bark, leaves and roots	Abdominal pains, backache, bilharzia, blood pressure, cough, cracked heels, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, lucky charms, mental problems, STDs, stop bad dreams, wasting in infants, wounds and wounds in the mouth	9	[25,26,27,28,29,31,36,37,40]
Erythrina livingstoniana Bak. 1	Tree	Roots	Haematuria	1	[25]
Erythrina spp. 1		Roots	Backache and manic disorders	1	[29]
Erythrophleum africanum (Benth.) Harms 2	Tree	Bark	Stomach pains	1	[25]
Erythrophleum suaveolens (Guill. & Perr.) Brenan 2	Tree	Bark	Preventing witchcraft	1	[25]
Flemingia grahamiana Wight & Arry 1	Herb	Roots	Diarrhoea	1	[25]
Grona barbata (L.) H.Ohashi & K.Ohashi 1	Herb	Roots	Abortifacient, dilating the birth canal, epilepsy, preventing abortion, postpartum conditions, sore eyes and wasting in infants	1	[25]
Indigofera antunesiana Harms 1	Shrub	Roots	Menstrual problems	1	[25]
Indigofera arrecta Hochst. ex A.Rich. 1	Shrub	Leaves and roots	Abdominal pains, abortifacient, convulsions, diuretic, gonorrhoea, infertility, purgative, sore eyes, stomach pains and de-ticking dogs	2	[25,35]
Indigofera astragalina DC. 1	Herb	Roots	Dizziness	1	[25]
Indigofera demissa Taub. 1	Herb	Roots	Abortifacient	1	[25]
Indigofera hilaris Eckl. & Zeyh. 1	Herb	Roots	Painful legs	1	[25]
Indigofera hirsuta L. 1	Shrub	Roots	Dizziness	1	[34]
Indigofera rhynchocarpa Bak. 1	Shrub	Roots	Abdominal pains and menstrual problems	1	[25,34]
Indigofera setiflora Baker 1	Herb	Roots	Diarrhoea and stomach problems	3	[28,37,43]
Indigofera spicata Forssk. 1	Herb	Roots	Panacea	1	[25]
Indigofera vicioides Jaub. & Spach. ssp. rogersii (R.E.Fr.) Schrire 1	Shrub	Roots	Depressed fontanelle	1	[25]
Indigofera wildiana J.B.Gillett 1	Shrub	Roots	Preventing abortion	1	[25]
Indigofera spp. 1	Shrub	Leaves and roots	Abdominal pains, antenatal conditions, chest pains, coughs, driving away bad spirits and infertility in women	2	[25,34]
Julbernardia globiflora (Benth.) Troupin 2	Tree	Bark, bark fibre, leaves and roots	Constipation, diarrhoea, reducing the size of the vagina, snakebite, sore eyes, stomach problems and diarrhoea in cattle	3	[25,28,38]
* Lessertia frutescens (L.) Goldblatt & J.C.Manning 1 (Syn. Sutherlandia frutescens (L.) W.T,Aiton)	Shrub	Roots	Analgesia, cancer, colds, diabetes, fever, influenza and haemorrhoids	1	[39]
* Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) DeWit 2	Shrub	Bark, leaves and seeds	Colds, influenza and TB	1	[45]
Macrotyloma densiflorum (Welw. ex Bak.) Verdc. 1	Shrub	Leaves	Abdominal pains	1	[25]
Mucuna coriacea Baker 1	Climber	Roots	Bilharzia	1	[26]
Mundulea sericea (Willd.) A.Chev. 1	Shrub	Roots	Infertility and sexual impotence	2	[25,29]
Neorautanenia mitis (A.Rich.) Verdc. 1	Climber	Bulbs	Fever and de-ticking dogs	2	[25,28]
Ormocarpum kirkii S.Moore 1	Tree	Leaves	Depressed fontanelle, dilating the birth canal and stomach pains	3	[28,31,34]
Ormocarpum trichocarpum (Taub.) Engl. 1	Shrub	Leaves and roots	Allergies, depressed fontanelle, prolonged labour and stomach problems	2	[25,29]
Peltophorum africanum Sond. 2	Tree	Bark, leaves and roots	Abdominal pains, bilharzia, blood purification, chest pains, diaphoretic, diarrhoea, diuretic, driving away evil spirits, dropsy, eye problems, headache, infertility in women, laxative, mental problems, nausea, oedema, panacea, preventing abortion, sore eyes, sore throat, STDs, STIs, syphilis, toothache and venereal diseases	10	[25,26,27,29,34,35,36,37,38,46]
Pericopsis angolensis (Baker) Meeuwen 1	Tree	Bark or roots	Abdominal pains, antiemetic, backache, cancer, cough, diarrhoea, dyspnoea, oedema, sore throats and wounds	3	[25,28,38]
* Phaseolus vulgaris L. 2	Shrub	Roots	Bilharzia and postpartum conditions	2	[26,34]
Philenoptera violacea (Klotzch) Schrire 1	Tree	Roots	Diarrhoea	1	[38]
Piliostigma thonningii (Schumach.) Milne-Redh. 2 (Syn. Bauhinia thonningii Schumach.)	Tree	Bark, fruits, leaves and roots	Abdominal pains, antivenom, bilharzia, constipation, convulsions, cough, diarrhoea, dropsy, emetic, immune booster, influenza, menstrual problems, painful legs, painful uterus, postpartum conditions, stomach problems and ketosis in cattle	7	[25,26,28,29,36,37,38]
Pseudarthria hookeri Wight & Arn. 1	Herb	Leaves and roots	Bilharzia and diarrhoea	1	[25]
Pterocarpus angolensis DC. 1	Tree	Bark, flowers, fruits, leaves, roots and sap	Abdominal pains, anaemia, aphrodisiac, asthma, backache, bilharzia, body pains, cataract, cough, depressed fontanelle, diarrhoea, earache, haematuria, infertility in women, kwashiorkor, lameness, menstrual problems, pelvic inflammation, ringworm, sore eyes, stomach problems, TB, ulcers and venereal diseases and sore eyes in animals	11	[25,26,27,28,29,31,35,36,37,38,46]
Pterocarpus rotundifolius (Sond.) Druce 1	Tree	Root sap	Sore eyes	1	[25]
Pterolobium stellatum (Forssk.) Brenan 2	Climber	Roots	Augmenting labour and depressed fontanelle	2	[31,38]
Rhynchosia insignis (O.Hoffm.) R.E.Fr. 1	Herb	Roots	Abdominal pains, depressed fontanelle and dropsy	1	[25]
Rhynchosia minima (L.) DC. 1	Herb	Roots	Boils and skin infections	1	[47]
Rhynchosia monophylla Schltr. 1	Herb	Roots	Postpartum conditions	1	[25]
Rhynchosia resinosa (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Bak. 1	Climber	Leaves and roots and twigs	Abdominal pains, diabetes mellitus, dilating the birth canal, expel maggots from wounds, high blood pressure, infertility and menstrual problems	3	[25,31,34]
Rhynchosia spp. 1	Herb	Roots	Diarrhoea	1	[38]
Schotia brachypetala Sond. 2	Tree	Bark, leaves and roots	Depressed fontanelle, diarrhoea, dysentery, epistaxis, oedema, stomach problems, swellings and ulcers	4	[25,28,34,38]
Senegalia ataxacantha (DC.) Kyal. & Boatwr. 2 (Syn. Acacia ataxacantha DC.)	Shrub	Roots	Abdominal pains, constipation and preventing witchcraft	1	[25]
Senegalia chariessa (Milne-Redh.) Kyal. & Boatwr. 2 (Syn. Acacia chariessa Milne-Redh.)	Shrub	Roots	Antenatal, blood purification and postpartum	2	[25,29]
Senegalia mellifera (Benth.) Seigler & Ebinger 2 (Syn. Acacia mellifera Benth.)	Shrub	Bark	Aphrodisiac	2	[25,28]
Senegalia nigrescens (Oliv.) P.J.H.Hurter 2 (Syn. Acacia nigrescens Oliv.)	Tree	Roots	Convulsions	1	[25]
Senna didymobotrya (Fresen.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby 2 (Syn. Cassia didymobotrya Fresen.)	Shrub	Roots	Convulsions and mental problems	1	[25]
Senna italica Mill. 2 (Syn. Cassia italica (Mill.) F.W.Andr.)	Shrub	Roots	Abdominal pains, bilharzia, bronchitis, colic, haemorrhoids and sore eyes	3	[25,26,29]
* Senna occidentalis (L.) Link 2 (Syn. Cassia occidentalis L.)	Herb	Roots	Sore throats and tonsillitis	1	[28]
Senna petersiana (Bolle) Lock 2 (Syn. Cassia petersiana Bolle)	Tree	Roots	Bilharzia	1	[26]
Senna singueana (Delile) Lock 2 (Syn. Cassia singueana Delile)	Shrub	Bark, leaves and roots	Abdominal pains, antiemetic, bilharzia, constipation, dropsy, herpes, infertility in women, malaria, menstrual problems, painful uterus, postpartum, preventing still birth, preventing bad luck, sores, sore eyes, STDs, syphilis and venereal diseases	7	[25,26,27,28,34,38,40]
* Senna septemtrionalis (Viv.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby 2 (Syn. Cassia septemtrionalis Viv.)	Shrub	Roots	Malaria	1	[41]
Sesbania spp. 1	Shrub	Seeds	Fever	1	[34]
Sphenostylis erecta (Baker f.) Hutch. ex Baker f. 1 (Syn. Sphenostylis marginata E.Mey. ssp. erecta (Baker f.) Verdc.)	Shrub	Roots	Abdominal pains, bile emesis, constipation, diarrhoea, fever, oedema and wasting away in infants	2	[25,38]
* Tamarindus indica L. 2	Tree	Fruits and roots	Sore throat and venereal diseases	1	[25]
Tephrosia radicans Welw. 1	Shrub	Roots	Sore eyes and toothache	1	[25]
Tylosema fassoglense (Kotschy ex Schweinf.) Torre & Hillc. 2	Climber	Bark, roots and tubers	Abdominal pains, diarrhoea, pneumonia, retained placenta, stomach problems and venereal diseases	2	[25,28]
Vachellia amythethophylla (Steud. ex A.Rich.) Kyal. & Boatwr. 2 (Syn. Acacia amythethophylla Steud. ex A.Rich.)	Shrub	Roots	Antidote for snakebites, convulsions, driving away evil spirits, excessive sweating, infertility in women, mental problems and painful uterus	1	[25]
Vachellia karroo (Hayne) Banfi & Galasso 2 (Syn. Acacia karroo Hayne)	Tree	Fruits and roots	Aphrodisiac, bilharzia, body pains, convulsions, dizziness, gonorrhoea, syphilis and killing parasites in fowl runs	6	[25,26,27,36,37,43]
Vachellia nilotica (L.) P.J.H.Hurter & Mabb. 2 (Syn. Acacia nilotica L.)	Shrub	Fruits and roots	STDs	1	[40]
Vachellia rehmanniana (Schinz) Kyal. & Boatwr. 2 (Syn. Acacia rehmanniana Schinz)	Tree	Bark and roots	Bloated stomach, headaches and pneumonia	1	[25,28]
Vachellia sieberiana (DC.) Kyal. & Boatwr. 2 (Syn. Acacia sieberiana DC.)	Shrub	Roots	Antiseptic	1	[25]
Vigna nuda N.E.Br. 1	Herb	Roots	Chest pains and cough	1	[34]
# Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.1	Shrub	Roots and seeds	Anaemia, antivenom, bilharzia, chest pains, constipation, epilepsy, menstrual problems and antidote for snakebites	4	[25,26,27,28]
Xeroderris stuhlmannii (Taub.) Mendonça & E.P.Sousa 1	Tree	Bark, leaves or roots	Abdominal pains, anaemia, antiabortifacient, back pains, cancer, diarrhoea, headache, infertility in men, malaria, menstrual problems, pneumonia, stomach problems, toothache, venereal diseases, wounds and ethnoveterinary medicine	4	[25,28,38,48]
Zornia glochidiata Rchb. ex DC. 1	Herb	Roots	Dilating the birth canal, preventing abortion and venereal diseases	1	[25]

* = Exotic; # = cultivated or collected from semi-natural landscapes; ⁺ = Fabaceae subfamilies: ¹ = Faboideae, ² = Caesalpinoideae, ³ = Cercidoideae.