Magic guarri
Flowers
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ebenaceae
Genus: Euclea
Species:
E. divinorum
Binomial name
Euclea divinorum
Synonyms[2]
List
    • Euclea balfourii Hiern ex Balf.f.
    • Euclea huillensis Gürke
    • Euclea katangensis De Wild.
    • Euclea keniensis R.E.Fr.
    • Euclea kiwuensis Gürke
    • Euclea laurina Hiern ex Balf.f.
    • Euclea stuhlmannii Gürke

Euclea divinorum, called diamond leaf, diamond-leaved euclea, magic guarri, and toothbrush tree, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Euclea, native to eastern and southern Africa.[2] A shrub or small tree, it has many uses in Africa, including as a source for dye for wool, for tanning leather, and an ink, and as a preservative for milk (allowing it to keep for up to a year), and, by chewing on a twig, as a toothbrush.[3]

Foliage on a shrub in Pretoria

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Euclea divinorum.
  1. ^ Trans. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 12: 99 (1873)
  2. ^ a b "Euclea divinorum Hiern". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  3. ^ Cardon, D. (2005). Dyes and Tannins. PROTA Foundation. p. 76-79. ISBN 9789057821592.
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