Mitragyna africana

African Kratom · False Kratom

Afrotropical

African congener of the better-known Southeast Asian kratom (M. speciosa). Contains its own profile of mitragynine-class alkaloids but in different ratios and at lower concentration. Used in West and Central African folk medicine for fever, pain, and as a stimulant tonic.

ECOLOGY & HABITAT

Tree of Sahelian and Sudanian savanna and seasonally dry forest across a broad band of sub-Saharan Africa.

Distribution

SenegalMaliNigeriaCameroonSudanEthiopiaUgandaKenya

TRADITIONAL USE

Hausa, Bambara, and other West African folk medicine: antipyretic, analgesic
Bark decoction as a mild stimulant tonic

REFERENCES

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Burkill 1997

Kin & neighbors

Tropical tree of Southeast Asia whose leaves contain mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine — alkaloids with unusual pharmacology spanning opioid agonism and adrenergic modulation. Stimulating at low doses, sedating and analgesic at higher doses.

Evergreen shrub of the Horn of Africa and Arabian Peninsula whose fresh leaves are chewed for the stimulant alkaloid cathinone. The compound is highly unstable — leaves must be consumed within days of harvest, which has shaped a vast same-day distribution economy.

Ethiopian highland shrub whose roasted seeds power the most widely consumed psychoactive beverage in human history — caffeine alone now exceeds every other drug in daily reach.

Southern African shrub with striking orange whorls of flowers whose dried leaves are smoked as a mild, calming euphoriant — sometimes described as a gentler, more grounded cousin of cannabis.

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