Table 1.

The traditional uses of South African Meliaceae. The categories are according to Moffett’s (2010) classification. *NR: Not recorded; A: Afrikaans; E: English; N: Ndebele; NS: Northern Sotho; S: Sotho; Sh: Shona; T: Tsonga; Ts: Tswana; V: Vhavenda; X: Xhoza; Z: Zulu.

Taxa	Local Names	Traditional Use			References
		Medicinal Use	Part Use	Preparation and Administration
Ekebergia capensis Sparrm.	Esseboom, essenhout (A); dogplum, cape ash (E); munyonga, mmidibidi (NS); umNyamatsi (S); mumbafwe (T); nyamaru (Ts); mudouma, muṱobvuma, muzhouzhou (V); umgwenyezinja (X); imanaya, isimanaye, mahlunzidintaba, ronyamati, simanaya, umathunzi wentaba, umathunzini, umgwenyana wezinja, umnyamathi, umthoma, usimanaye, uvungu, (Z)	Analgesic
		Headache	Root	Powdered, charred pulverized roots are sniffed	[12,41,42]
			Leaf	NR	[43]
		Malaria	Root and leaf	Extracts from maceration of crushed roots and leaves are drunk	[44]
			Bark	inner bark is boiled and drunk	[45]
		Anthelmintic
		Worms	Bark and leaf	Bark powder is added to leaf decoction and drunk	[6,46]
		Antimicrobial
		Anthrax	Leaf	Crushed leaf is boiled and drunk	[47,48]
		Venereal diseases	Bark and root	Freshly collected bark and roots are boiled in water and the extract is drunk three times daily	[49]
		Cardio-vascular
		Blood purifier and blood pressure	Leaf and inner bark	Leaf or inner bark is boiled and drunk	[13,45,47]
		Heart ailment	Bark	NR	[13]
		Cytological
		Cancers	Fruits	Fruits are crushed, sieved, and drunk	[50]
		Dermatological
		Abscess, scabies, and acne	Bark	Infusion or maceration of the bark powder is applied	[6,39,51,52]
		Scabies	Root and leaf	NR	[12,41]
		Abscess and boil	Bark	Crushed bark added to flour and water poultices is applied	[13,51]
		Pimples	Bark	Crushed bark in hot water infusion is drunk and used as a wash	[13,51]
		Skin ailments	Leaf	NR	[37]
		Gastro-Intestinal
		Bloody stool	Bark	Bark is macerated with bark of Diospyros lycioides Desf. and extract is drunk	[53]
		Emetic and heartburn	Bark and root	Bark or root decoctions are taken as emetics	[6,43,54]
		Gastritis, dysentery, and heartburn	Bark and root	One teaspoon of bark and root powder in a half cup of hot water is taken as tea	[6,12,41,44,55]
		Purgative	Leaf	A cup of leaf infusion is drunk	[13]
		Stomachache	Fruits	Fruits are masticated and swallowed	[50]
		Gynaecological and Obstetrics; Genital system
		Dystocia	Leaf and twig	Leafy twigs mixed with Indigofera oubanguiensis Tisser. are taken orally and used as a wash to treat dystocia	[30,56]
		Infertility	Bark	NR	[13]
		Nervous system
		Epilepsy	Bark	Bark infusion is drunk	[57]
		Stress relief	NR	NR	[14]
		Respiratory system
		Chest complaints and coughs	Bark and root	Bark or root decoctions are taken orally	[54]
		Chronic cough	Leaf	NR	[43]
		Cough and respiratory complaints	Bark	Bark decoction with root of Euclea natalensis A.DC. is drunk	[54]
		Trauma
		Snakebite	Root and leaf	Extracts from maceration of crushed roots and leaves are drunk	[44]
		Ethnoveterinary
		Tuberculosis	Bark	Crushed bark is boiled and administered orally	[48,58]
		Abortion	Galls	Galls on plant are boiled and administered orally	[59]
		Magic
		Protection	Bark	Bark is used to protect chiefs against witchcraft	[13,60]
		Love	Bark	Bark decoction is drunk as love charm emetics	[13,60]
Ekebergia pterophylla (C.DC.) Hofmeyr	Rotsessenhout (A); rock ash (E); maGwedla (S)	No Ethnomedicinal Records
Entandrophragma caudatum (Sprague) Sprague	Bergmahonie (A); mountain mahogany, wooden-banana (E); mophumêna (Ts); munzhounzhou (V)	Analgesic
		Malaria	Bark	NR	[61]
		Antimicrobial
		Gonorrhoea	Root	Root decoction is drunk	[62]
		Genital warts	Fruit	Burnt fruit peels mixed with Vaseline are applied topically	[62]
Nymania capensis (Thunb.) Lindb.	Kankerbos, kiepkiepies, klapperbos, klapperbossie, lanternbos, oumeidsbos, oumeidebos, stuipebos, stuipebossie, stinkbossie, ystervarkbos (A); chinese lantern tree, kipkippers, klapper (E)	Ear, Nose, and Throat
		Influenza	Leaf	Leaf infusion is taken	[63]
		Gastro-Intestinal
		Stomach complaints and nausea	Root	Root decoction is taken	[64]
		Nervous system
		Convulsion	Leaf	Leaf decoction	[12,53,63]
		Trauma
		Wound healing	Root	Roasted, pulverized roots are sprinkled on the affected part and can also be mixed with fat into an ointment and applied as a salve	[64]
		Urinary system
		Kidney problem	Root	Root decoction is taken	[64]
Pseudobersama mossam bicensis (Sim) Verdc.	Valswitessenhout (A); umopho (Z)	No Ethnomedicinal Records
Trichilia dregeana Sond.	Bos Rooi-essenhout, bosrooiessenhout (A); cape mahogany, forest mahogany, forest natal mahogany, white mahogany (E); mutshikili, mutuhu, muuhu (V); umhlakele, umkhuhlu, umkhuhlwa (X), ixolo, umathunzi, umathunzini, umkhuhlu (Z)	Analgesic
		Back pain	Bark	A teaspoon of pulverised bark boiled in a cup of milk is allowed to cool and strained, then half a cup of the extract is taken as an enema in the early morning	[12,13]
		Fever	Root	Root decoction is taken orally	[12,65]
		Toothache	NR	NR	[14]
		Antimicrobial
		Gonorrhoea and Syphilis	Leaf	Handful of leaves is boiled with a handful of Albizia adianthifolia leaves in 2 L water and half a cup of the decoction is taken daily	[27,43,53,66]
		Leprosy	NR	NR	[65]
		Cardio-Vascular
		Blood purifier	Bark	Bark is taken as an enema for men	[43]
		Dermatological
		Bruises and eczema	Leaf or fruit	Leaf or fruit poultice is applied topically	[65]
		Gastro-Intestinal
		Bloody diarrhoea	Bark	Bark decoction is taken daily	[53,65]
		Purgative and stomach complaints	Bark or root	Bark infusion is taken as an enema or root decoction is taken orally	[13,65,67]
		Gynaecological and Obstetrics; Genital system
		Abortifacient	Bark	Bark infusion or decoction is taken orally or used as an enema	[65,67]
		Musculo-Skeletal
		Lumbago	NR	NR	[65]
		Rheumatism	Seed	Oil from seed is used for massage	[65]
		Trauma
		Fractures	Seed	Oil from seed is rubbed into scarifications made on fractured limb	[65]
		Urinary system
		Kidney problem	Bark	Bark maceration is taken as an enema	[13,43,53]
		Ethnoveterinary
		Fishing poison	Bark	NR	[8,65,67]
Trichilia emetica Vahl	Rooiessenhout (A); natal-mahogany (E); mamba (NS); umkuhlu (Si); ankulu, nkulu (T); mutshikili, mutuhu (V); umkhuhlu (X); umathunzini (Z)	Analgesic
		Back pain	Bark or leaf	Bark or leaf maceration is taken as an enema	[12,13,68]
		Dental care	Twig, trunk, wood, root or flower	Twig, trunk, wood or root is chewed and the crushed flowers is used as a toothpaste	[69]
		Headache	Leaf	Leaf infusion is used to wash the head	[69]
		Malaria	Leaf, bark, and root	Leaf decoction mixed with lemon is drunk or used as a bath for 3–7 days. Bark decoction mixed with honey is also taken orally. Root, stem, and leaf decoction is taken 2–3 times daily for 3 days. Root maceration of T. emetica, Pseudocedrala kotschii (Schweinf.) Harms and Nauclea latifolia Sm. mixed with honey can also be drunk for 10 days	[38]
		Anthelmintic
		Teniasis	Bark	Crushed bark mixed with root of Securidaca longependonculata Fresen. is taken orally for 3 days	[38]
		Worm	Bark or root	Bark or root decoction is taken daily for 3 days	[53,70]
		Antimicrobial
		Dysentery	Bark or leaf	Bark or leaf maceration is taken as an enema	[12,13,71]
		Gonorrhoea and syphilis	Bark and leaf	Bark and leaf decoction is drunk	[43,62]
		Leprosy	Root	Root maceration is drunk or used as a bath	[38,42,71]
		Cardio-vascular
		Blood and digestive tract cleanser	Bark	Bark infusion is applied as an enema	[13,43]
		Blood pressure	Leaf	A teaspoon of 1 h decoction of T. emetica leaf, Aloe. marlothii leaf, and Hyphaene coriaceae root is taken orally three times daily	[27]
		Dermatological
		Burns and bruises	Leaf	Hot leaf infusion is applied to the affected part	[69]
		Dermatitis	Leaf and bark	Leaf decoction is used in a steam bath or crushed leaves are applied on the affected part while the powdered bark can also be used for cleansing	[38,72]
		Eczema	Fruit or leaf	Fruit or leaf poultice is applied topically	[12,13,73,74]
		Ear, Nose, and Throat
		Colds and bronchial inflammation	Root	Root decoction is taken orally	[37]
		Gastro-Intestinal
		Abdominal pain	Leaf or root	Crushed leaf or root decoction is used as a bath and taken orally with salt and lemon twice daily	[38]
		Constipation	Bark	50 g of chopped bark is boiled with 50 g of chopped bark of Spirostachys africana Sond. in 5 L of water and taken orally	[68]
		Diarrhoea	Bark	Bark infusion is administered anally twice a day	[27]
		Digestive infections	Root	Root decoction mixed with coffee is taken orally for 3 days or decoction mixed with Cassia sieberiana DC. root and honey drunk in the morning for 5 days	[38]
		Emetic	Bark or root	Bark maceration or pulverized bark in hot water is taken, root extract can also be taken orally	[12,13,37,46,72,75,76,77]
		Flatulence	Root	Powdered root infusion added to Acacia nilotica seed powder is taken	[38]
		Hemorrhoids	Root	Crushed root bark mixed with black pepper and crushed fruit of Xylopia aethiopica (Dunal) A. Rich. is taken daily, while the powdered root in salt water is used as an enema	[38]
		Gastric ulcer	Bark	Crushed bark mixed with salt and ginger is added to porridge and taken twice daily	[38]
		Hernia	Root	Crushed root is added to porridge and taken orally	[38]
		Inflamed anus	Bark	Pulverized bark puffed into the anus	[30]
		Jaundice	Root	Root decoction is taken daily for 3 days, chopped roots are also mixed with honey and used as a bath	[38,70]
		Laxative	Bark	Bark is mixed with eggs and taken orally to clean the stomach	[78]
		Purgative	Bark	Bark infusion or decoction is used as an enema or taken orally	[53,67,76]
		Stomach complaints	Bark	Bark infusion or decoction is taken orally or administered as an enema	[43,53,54,67]
		Gynaecological and Obstetrics; Genital system
		Abortifacient	Bark	Bark infusion is taken	[67,71]
			Bark and root	One handful of crushed bark and root in a litre of milk and Coca Cola mixture is boiled for 15 min and taken orally	[27]
		Breast pain	Leaf	Leaf decoction is used to bath	[38]
		Dysmenorrhoea	Leaf	Leaf decoction added to Tamarindus indica L. or lemon is taken orally for 7 days	[38,79]
		Fertility	Leaf	Leaf decoction with Combretum molle R. Br. ex G. Don is taken orally	[38]
			Bark	Crushed bark mixed with the same amount of Gymnosporia senegalensisa root is boiled and decoction is used as an enema	[27]
		Labour pain	Leaf	Hot leaf decoction is used to massage the belly of a woman during labour to ease pain until she delivers	[27]
		Sterility	Root	Powdered root with ginger and salt is taken as a porridge	[38]
		Musculo-Skeletal
		Lumbago	Bark or leaf	Bark or leaf maceration is taken as an enema	[12,30]
		Paralyses	Root	Crushed root is mixed with porridge and taken orally	[38]
		Rheumatism	Seed	Oil from boiled seeds is taken orally and rubbed topically	[8,12,13,46,75]
		Opthalmic
		Eye infection	Leaf and bark	Leaf and bark decoction is used for eye cleansing for 2 days	[38]
		Respiratory system
		Cardiac problems	Leaf	Leaf decoction is taken orally	[80]
		Chest pain	Leaf	Leaf decoction is used in a steam bath or rubbed on the chest	[38]
		Cough	Bark and root	Bark and root decoction is drunk	[81]
		Pneumonia	Root or leaf	Root or leaf decoction is taken orally or used as a bath for 12 days	[37,38]
		Trauma
		Fracture	Seed	Oil from the seed is rubbed into incisions on broken limbs and baked pulverized root of Sideroxylon inerme L. is applied	[8,12,13,82]
		Stiffness or sprains	Bark	Bark extract is applied topically	[69]
		Wound	Seed	Oil from the seed is applied to prevent infection from maggots	[37]
		Urinary system
		Kidney problem	Bark	Bark decoction is administered as an enema	[43]
		Renal ailments	Bark	Bark decoction is taken	[13]
		Ethnoveterinary
		Fishing poison	Bark	NR	[67]
		Magic
		Burial rituals	Leaf	Leaves are worn during burial rituals	[54]
Turraea floribunda Hochst.	Kanferfoelieboom (A); honeysuckle-tree, wild honeysuckle-tree (E); umdlozana, inkunzane (Si); umhlatholana, umlahlana (X); umadlozane, umlulama, ubhukulo (Z)	Dermatological
		Abscesses	Root	Root decoction is taken orally	[30]
		Gastro-Intestinal
		Ascites	Root	Root maceration is taken orally	[12,13]
		Emetic	Bark	Bark extract is taken orally	[8,37]
		Purgative	Bark and root	Bark and root decoction are taken orally	[37]
		Musculo-Skeletal
		Rheumatism	Root	Root maceration is taken orally	[8,12,13,75,76]
		Respiratory system
		Cardiac problems	Root	Root maceration is taken orally	[12,13,47,75,76]
		Cough	Root	Root decoction is taken orally	[37]
		Urinary system
		Urethral infection	Bark	Bark decoction is taken orally 1-3 times daily	[83]
		Magic
		To induce a state of trance	Bark	Bark infusion is taken orally	[30,75,76]
		Protection from bad dreams	Bark	NR	[76]
Turraea nilotica Kotschy and Peyr.	Bushveld honeysuckle-tree, lowveld honeysuckle-tree, miombo honeysuckle-tree, small mahogany (E) isidlamvundala (N); chipindura, chirambagavakava, chitsvimbovarisa, chitunguru, mudyakuwe, mukondanyoka, muzaramhanga (Sh)	Analgesic
		Headache	Root or leaf	Root decoction or leaf infusion is taken orally	[46,67]
		Toothache	Root	Root decoction is used as a mouthwash	[76,84]
		Anthelmintic
		Ascariasis	Root	Root decoction is taken orally	[30]
		Antimicrobial
		Gonorrhoea	Root	Root decoction is taken orally	[81]
		Venereal diseases	Root	Root infusion is taken orally	[8,67]
		Dermatological
		Abscesses	Root	Root decoction is taken orally and applied as a compress	[30]
		Gastro-Intestinal
		Abdominal pain	Leaf or root	Leaf decoction or root infusion is taken orally	[8,67,85]
		Constipation	Root	Root bark decoction is taken orally	[8,81]
		Diarrhoea	Leaf or root	Leaf or root decoction is taken orally or pulverized root is added to porridge	[8,67,85]
		Indigestion	Root	Root decoction is taken orally	[37]
		Schistosomiasis or hernia	Root	Root infusion mixed with honey is taken orally	[81]
		Gynaecological and Obstetrics; Genital system
		Aphrodisiac	Root	Powdered root mixed with beer or porridge is taken	[67]
		Dysmenorrhoea	Root	Powdered root mixed with porridge is taken	[8,67]
		Prevent abortion	Root	Root infusion is taken orally	[67]
		Sterility	Root	Root decoction is taken orally	[81]
		Nervous system
		Dizziness	Leaf	Leaf infusion is taken orally	[67]
		Epilepsy	Root	Powdered root mixed with porridge is taken	[8,67]
		Opthalmic
		Eye problems	Leaf	Leaf paste is applied to the eyelids	[67]
		Respiratory system
		Dyspnea	Root	Powdered root mixed with porridge is taken orally	[67]
		Pneumonia	Root	Powdered root is rubbed into scarification on the painful area, root infusion is taken orally, and smoke from the burnt roots is inhaled	[8,67]
		Trauma
		Snakebite antidote	Root	Burnt root ashes are applied to the bite	[67]
		Wound	Root	Root scrapings are applied topically	[30]
		Urinary system
		Dysuria or rectal prolapse	Root	Root bark decoction is taken orally	[67]
		Ethnoveterinary
		Anthelminthic for dogs	Root	Root infusion is administered orally	[67]
		Magic
		To calm the insane	Leaf	Leaf infusion is administered orally and smoke from burnt leaves is inhaled	[67]
Turraea obtusifolia Hochst.	Kleinkanferfoelieboom (A); small honeysuckle tree, lesser honeysuckle tree, (E); amzulu, ikhambi-lomsinga, ikunzi, inkunzi, inkunzi-embomvana, umhlatholana, uswazi (Z)	Gastro-Intestinal
		Stomach and intestinal complaints	Leaf, bark and root	Hot water maceration of leaf, bark or root is given as an enema and also mixed with porridge to be taken orally	[13,54,75,76,86]
		Ethnoveterinary
		Wounds in livestock	Leaf	Crushed leaves are applied topically on the affected part	[87]
Turraea pulchella (Harms) T.D.Penn.	No Ethnobotanical Record
Turraea streyi F. White and Styles	No Ethnobotanical Record