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Herb library · Herb · Morinda lucida

Brimstone tree (oruwo)

A West African tree with yellow wood and bitter roots whose leaves and bark are among the most used fever remedies in Nigeria, and whose root dyes the Asante red mourning cloth. It has not been studied in people.

Traditional use

Holland recorded in 1915 that it was used for dysentery and fever at Onitsha and on Fernando Po, and that Yoruba healers used the leaf as a tonic; its Yoruba name is oruwo (eruwo). PROTA, the handbook of Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, records that in West Africa decoctions, infusions and plasters of the root, bark and leaves are used for many kinds of fever, including malaria and yellow fever, and for diabetes, high blood pressure, dysentery and stomachache; that it is one of the four most used traditional medicines for fever in Nigeria; that the bitter roots are chewing sticks in Nigeria; and that the Asante of Ghana dye the red kobene cloth, worn in mourning, with its root bark.

What studies show

No studies in people of this herb on its own yet. What is known of it comes from the traditions that use it.

  • Insufficient

    Malaria, fever, blood sugar and blood pressure: no study of the brimstone tree in people was found. Its leaf extracts slow malaria parasites in the laboratory and it has been tested for fever, pain and blood sugar in rats and mice.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • NoteMalaria is a medical emergency: a fever where malaria occurs needs testing and tested medicine, not a home remedy alone.
  • InteractionIf you take medicine for diabetes or blood pressure, tell your clinician before taking it; it has not been tested alongside those drugs.
  • PregnancyNo safety information for pregnancy or breastfeeding was found; avoid medicinal amounts then.
  • Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.

From the old books

What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.

“Used by the natives in dysentery and fever, Onitsha and Fernando Po (Barter, l.c.), tonic leaf, Yoruba (Millson, l.c.), a yellow dye is obtained from the tree Uwet (MacLeod, l.c.).”
J. H. Holland, The Useful Plants of Nigeria, Part III (Kew Bulletin, Additional Series IX) (1915), Part III, p. 375. See the page of The Useful Plants of Nigeria, Part III (Kew Bulletin, Additional Series IX), Part III, p. 375 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from The Useful Plants of Nigeria, Part III (Kew Bulletin, Additional Series IX), Part III, p. 375

Sources

  1. Morinda lucida Benth (Rubiaceae): a review of its ethnomedicine, phytochemistry and pharmacology (J Ethnopharmacol, 2021) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Anti-malarial synergy of secondary metabolites from Morinda lucida Benth (J Ethnopharmacol, 2017) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. Morinda lucida — PROTA4U record (uses) (opens in a new tab) · PROTA · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.