Rank Species | Genus Phytolacca Higher classification Pokeweeds | |
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Similar Pokeweeds, Phytolaccaceae, Acokanthera schimperi, Calpurnia aurea, Biomphalaria pfeifferi | ||
Phytolacca dodecandra berries as a means of controlling bilharzia transmitting snails
Sarcoca dodecandra, basionym Phytolacca dodecandra, commonly known as endod, gopo berry, or African soapberry, is a trailing shrub or climber native to Tropical Africa, Southern Africa, and Madagascar.
Endod (as it is known in Amharic or shibti in Tigrigna ) has been selected and cultivated by Africans for centuries, particularly in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is used as a soap and shampoo as well as a poison to stun fish. Endod is lethal to snails - a fact discovered by Ethiopian scientists - and may be effective controlling schistosomiasis. After Aklilu Lemma, an Ethiopian scientist, demonstrated endod's potency to American scientists, they took out a patent, hoping to sell endod as a biological control for the Zebra mussel, a pest in the Great Lakes of the US and Canada.
