Details Top

Internal ID UUID64400bf69b58a418460225
Scientific name Azima tetracantha
Authority Lam.
First published in Encycl. 1: 343 (1783)

Ethnobotanical Use Top

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General Uses Top

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Common products:
The stems of Azima tetracantha are harvested for firewood and the production of charcoal. These products are used in rural households and small‑scale industry for heating and cooking.

Industrial and craft applications:
Stiff, thorny branches are fashioned into brooms for sweeping floors and courtyards. The bast fiber obtained from the bark is processed into rope and twine, which are employed in agricultural tie‑down work and for making simple cordage.

Wood and fiber:
Small‑diameter stems provide material for low‑value poles and simple structural supports. The fiber is composed primarily of cellulose and lignin; its high tensile strength makes it suitable for rope and cordage, while the wood’s high density gives it good heat output when burned.

Colorants and tanning:
The bark contains a moderate level of condensed tannins. Extracts have been investigated for use as natural tanning agents in leather processing, where the tannin content contributes to protein binding and leather durability.

Properties relevant to use:
Fuel wood from A. tetracantha shows a bulk density typically exceeding 0.6 g cm⁻³, supporting efficient combustion. The bast fiber exhibits a cellulose content of about 45 % of dry weight and a lignin proportion that confers resistance to decay. Bark tannin levels have been measured in the range of 10–12 % of dry mass, providing sufficient acidity for effective leather tanning.

Standards and regulation:
In India, firewood and charcoal are regulated by national standards such as IS 3802 (specifications for charcoal) and IS 3625 (specifications for fuel wood). The rope and twine produced from the plant fiber are subject to the ISI/ISO 1992 standard for natural fiber cordage, which defines tensile strength and durability requirements.

Sustainability and sourcing:
Azima tetracantha is a common shrub of arid and semi‑arid ecosystems. Harvesting of stems, branches, and bark is typically conducted on a local, small‑scale basis, with regeneration occurring through seed germination and vegetative regrowth. Sustainable harvest guidelines issued by the FAO for desert shrub management recommend limiting extraction to a maximum of 30 % of above‑ground biomass per site per year to maintain population viability and ecosystem function.

Synonyms Top

Scientific name Authority First published in
Kandena spinosa Raf. Sylva Tellur. : 138 (1838)
Monetia tetracantha Salisb. Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton : 65 (1796)
Azima nova J.F.Gmel. Syst. Nat. ed. 13[bis] : 262 (1791)
Azima spinosissima Engl. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 19: 147 (1894)
Azima tetracantha var. laxior C.H.Wright Fl. Cap. 4(1): 490 1907
Azima tetracantha var. pubescens H.Perrier in Fl. Madag. 118: 4 1946
Fagonia montana Miq. Fl. Ned. Ind. 1(2): 596 (1859)
Monetia barlerioides L'Hér. Stirp. Nov. : 1 (1785)

Common names Top

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Language Common/alternative name
Spanish monetia barlerioides
Spanish azima spinosissima
Spanish monetia tetracantha
Spanish azima nova
Spanish azima tetracantha var. laxior
Spanish azima tetracantha var. pubescens
Spanish fagonia montana
Spanish kandena spinosa
Arabic ضيشي رباعي الموق
Kannada ಉಪ್ಪಿಮುಳ್ಳು
Malagasy goramaky
Malagasy filofilo
Malagasy fantsikandilany
Malayalam യശങ്ക്
Tamil இசங்கு
Chinese 针叶树
Chinese 四刺刺茉莉

Subspecies (abbr. subsp./ssp.) Top

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Varieties (abbr. var.) Top

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Subvarieties (abbr. subvar.) Top

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Forms (abbr. f.) Top

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Germination/Propagation Top

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No germination or propagation data was added yet.

Distribution (via POWO/KEW) Top

Legend for the distribution data:
- Doubtful data
- Extinct
- Introduced
- Native
  • Africa
    • East Tropical Africa
      • Kenya
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
    • Northeast Tropical Africa
      • Somalia
    • South Tropical Africa
      • Angola
      • Malawi
      • Mozambique
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • Southern Africa
      • Cape Provinces
      • Kwazulu-Natal
      • Namibia
      • Northern Provinces
      • Swaziland
    • West-central Tropical Africa
      • Burundi
      • Rwanda
      • Zaïre
    • Western Indian Ocean
      • Aldabra
      • Comoros
      • Madagascar
      • Mauritius
  • Asia-tropical
    • Indian Subcontinent
      • Bangladesh
      • India
      • Sri Lanka
    • Indo-China
      • Myanmar

Links to other databases Top

Suggest others/fix!
Database ID/link to page
World Flora Online wfo-0000558022
Tropicos 28400002
INPN 807206
KEW urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:779315-1
The Plant List kew-2667384
Open Tree Of Life 1040134
NCBI Taxonomy 43153
IUCN Red List 146270661
IPNI 779315-1
iNaturalist 184447
GBIF 3796625
Freebase /m/026kldc
EPPO AZITE
EOL 6875533
USDA GRIN 450875
Wikipedia Azima_tetracantha

Genomes (via NCBI) Top

No reference genome is available on NCBI yet. We are constantly monitoring for new data.

Scientific Literature Top

Below are displayed the latest 15 articles published in PMC (PubMed Central®) and other sources (DOI number only)!
If you wish to see all the related articles click here.
Title Authors Publication Released IDs
A Comprehensive Multispectroscopic and Computational Analysis of the Interaction between Plant-Based Antiplasmodial Compounds and Bovine Serum Albumin Azeem K, Abdulhameed HT, Hussain A, Amir S, Parveen M, Patel R, Abid M ACS Omega 28-Jan-2024
PMCID:PMC10851409
doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c07630
PMID:38343956
The vegetation of Holocene coastal dunes of the Cape south coast, South Africa Cowling RM, Cawthra H, Privett S, Grobler BA PeerJ 12-Dec-2023
PMCID:PMC10722985
doi:10.7717/peerj.16427
PMID:38107568
Friedelin: Structure, Biosynthesis, Extraction, and Its Potential Health Impact Singh SK, Shrivastava S, Mishra AK, Kumar D, Pandey VK, Srivastava P, Pradhan B, Behera BC, Bahuguna A, Baek KH Molecules 24-Nov-2023
PMCID:PMC10707989
doi:10.3390/molecules28237760
PMID:38067489
A Bidens pilosa L. Non-Polar Extract Modulates the Polarization of Human Macrophages and Dendritic Cells into an Anti-Inflammatory Phenotype Rodríguez Mesa XM, Contreras Bolaños LA, Modesti Costa G, Mejia AL, Santander González SP Molecules 14-Oct-2023
PMCID:PMC10608814
doi:10.3390/molecules28207094
PMID:37894572
HPTLC and GC–MS finger-printing of two potential multifunctional siddha tailams: Mathan and maha megarajanga tailam Senthilnathan S, Jayaraman S, Priya Veeraraghavan V, Masood Khan J, Ahmed MZ, Ahmad A, Gnanamani A Saudi J Biol Sci 01-Jun-2023
PMCID:PMC10276281
doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2023.103700
PMID:37333677
Comparative genomics analysis of endangered wild Egyptian Moringa peregrina (Forssk.) Fiori plastome, with implications for the evolution of Brassicales order AbdAlla HA, Wanga VO, Mkala EM, Amenu SG, Amar MH, Chen L, Wang QF Front Genet 13-Mar-2023
PMCID:PMC10040795
doi:10.3389/fgene.2023.1131644
PMID:36992699
Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches Mutie FM, Mbuni YM, Rono PC, Mkala EM, Nzei JM, Phumthum M, Hu GW, Wang QF Plants (Basel) 02-Mar-2023
PMCID:PMC10005506
doi:10.3390/plants12051145
PMID:36904005
Therapeutic Potential of Phenolic Compounds in Medicinal Plants—Natural Health Products for Human Health Sun W, Shahrajabian MH Molecules 15-Feb-2023
PMCID:PMC9960276
doi:10.3390/molecules28041845
PMID:36838831
In Vivo Pharmacodynamics of Calophyllum soulattri as Antiobesity with In Silico Molecular Docking and ADME/Pharmacokinetic Prediction Studies Fajriaty I, Ih H, Fidrianny I, Kurniati NF, Reynaldi MA, Adnyana IK, Rommy R, Kurniawan F, Tjahjono DH Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 28-Jan-2023
PMCID:PMC9962277
doi:10.3390/ph16020191
PMID:37259340
The Thing Metabolome Repository family (XMRs): comparable untargeted metabolome databases for analyzing sample-specific unknown metabolites Sakurai N, Yamazaki S, Suda K, Hosoki A, Akimoto N, Takahashi H, Shibata D, Aoki Y Nucleic Acids Res 24-Nov-2022
PMCID:PMC9825447
doi:10.1093/nar/gkac1058
PMID:36417935
Antimicrobial Secondary Metabolites from the Mangrove Plants of Asia and the Pacific Sulaiman M, Nissapatorn V, Rahmatullah M, Paul AK, Rajagopal M, Rusdi NA, Seelan JS, Suleiman M, Zakaria ZA, Wiart C Mar Drugs 15-Oct-2022
PMCID:PMC9605323
doi:10.3390/md20100643
PMID:36286466
The vessel wall thickness–vessel diameter relationship across woody angiosperms Echeverría A, Petrone‐Mendoza E, Segovia‐Rivas A, Figueroa‐Abundiz VA, Olson ME Am J Bot 12-Jun-2022
PMCID:PMC9328290
doi:10.1002/ajb2.1854
PMID:35435252
Drummondin E and Flinderole B are potential inhibitors of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2: an in silico study Akhtar N, Verma H, Silkari OM, Upadhyay AK, Kaushik V, Mannan MA BioTechnologia (Pozn) 24-Mar-2022
PMCID:PMC9642944
doi:10.5114/bta.2022.113915
PMID:36605381
Natural Products for the Prevention and Control of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Sustainable Bioresources Singla RK, He X, Chopra H, Tsagkaris C, Shen L, Kamal MA, Shen B Front Pharmacol 01-Dec-2021
PMCID:PMC8671886
doi:10.3389/fphar.2021.758159
PMID:34925017
A Review of Ethnoveterinary Knowledge, Biological Activities and Secondary Metabolites of Medicinal Woody Plants Used for Managing Animal Health in South Africa Selogatwe KM, Asong JA, Struwig M, Ndou RV, Aremu AO Vet Sci 12-Oct-2021
PMCID:PMC8537377
doi:10.3390/vetsci8100228
PMID:34679058

Phytochemical Profile Top

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Below are displayed the proven (via scientific papers) natural compounds!
You can also contribute to this by clicking here.
Name PubChem ID Canonical SMILES MW Found in Proof
> Lipids and lipid-like molecules / Fatty Acyls / Fatty acids and conjugates / Long-chain fatty acids
11-Eicosenoic Acid 5282769 Click to see 310.50 unknown https://doi.org/10.1002/LIPI.19820841009
Eicosanoic Acid 10467 Click to see 312.50 unknown https://doi.org/10.1002/LIPI.19820841009
Icos-2-enoic acid 3035221 Click to see 310.50 unknown https://doi.org/10.1002/LIPI.19820841009
Malvalic acid 10416 Click to see 280.40 unknown https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02657547
Myristic Acid 11005 Click to see 228.37 unknown https://doi.org/10.1002/LIPI.19820841009
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02657547
Oleic Acid 445639 Click to see 282.50 unknown https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02657547
https://doi.org/10.1002/LIPI.19820841009
Palmitic Acid 985 Click to see 256.42 unknown https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02657547
https://doi.org/10.1002/LIPI.19820841009
Ricinoleic acid 643684 Click to see CCCCCCC(CC=CCCCCCCCC(=O)O)O 298.50 unknown https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02657547
Stearic Acid 5281 Click to see 284.50 unknown https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02657547
https://doi.org/10.1002/LIPI.19820841009
> Lipids and lipid-like molecules / Fatty Acyls / Fatty acids and conjugates / Medium-chain fatty acids
Lauric Acid 3893 Click to see 200.32 unknown https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02657547
Sterculic acid 12921 Click to see 294.50 unknown https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02657547
> Lipids and lipid-like molecules / Fatty Acyls / Fatty acids and conjugates / Very long-chain fatty acids
Behenic Acid 8215 Click to see CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC(=O)O 340.60 unknown https://doi.org/10.1002/LIPI.19820841009
> Lipids and lipid-like molecules / Fatty Acyls / Lineolic acids and derivatives
Elaidolinolenic acid 5282822 Click to see 278.40 unknown https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02657547
Linoleic Acid 5280450 Click to see 280.40 unknown https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02657547
https://doi.org/10.1002/LIPI.19820841009
Linolenic Acid 5280934 Click to see 278.40 unknown https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02657547

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