FRANCOACEAE

(Bridal Wreath or Melianthus family)

• Medicinal / Folk-medicinal aspects: Preparations of the leaves or root bark of Melianthus L. species, used externally and also internally, have been reported to be South African traditional remedies for tinea capitis, chronic or necrotic ulcers, sores, wounds, and snake bite. •
• Adverse effects: A case of allergic dermatitis, with a delayed positive patch test reaction to ellagic acid, has been reported following contact with the black-coloured nectar from Melianthus comosus Vahl. •
• Veterinary aspects: The use of a preparation of the leaves of Melianthus comosus Vahl to treat sores on livestock has been documented. •

Until recently, members of this family were considered variously to belong in the Geraniaceae, Greyiaceae, Ledocarpaceae, Melianthaceae, Saxifragaceae, and Vivianiaceae (Mabberley 1997), before being brought together in the Francoaceae (Mabberley 2017). The family is now considered to comprise 36 species in 8 genera. The principal genera are Balbisia Cav. [10 spp.], Bersama Fresen. [7 spp.], Melianthus L. [6 spp.], and Viviania Cav. [7 spp.].^a

Several of the species of Melianthus L. are grown as ornamental greenhouse shrubs or in sub-tropical bedding schemes. They are noted for the disagreeable smell that is produced when the leaves are bruised (Hunt 1968/70).

^a https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77157387-1; accessed October 2025

Melianthus comosus Vahl

[syn. Diplerisma comosum (Vahl) Planch.]

Tufted Honey Flower, Touch-Me-Not

Wicht (1918), describing home remedies that have been used by South African people, noted that the leaves of several species of Melianthus are boiled and the water used as a lotion for wounds. Steyn (1934) and Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk (1962), citing Smith (1895), together with other authors cited by Mabona & Van Vuuren (2013), have noted that in South African traditional medicine, the leaf juice is used [variously, in unspecified ways] to treat septic wounds and sores, abscesses, boils, bruises, burns, impetigo, ringworm, shingles, and snake-bite. Smith (1895) was, in fact, describing this species as "one of the most notable snake-bite plants", and the "wound" to which he was referring was a snake bite:

The parts to employ are the bark of the root and the leaves. If the fresh plant can be had, the best mode is to pound, or scrape down […] a piece […] of the bark of the root, and administer in a little water. The juice of the leaves, or a leaf-paste should also be repeatedly applied to the wound. This antidote acts by producing extreme vomiting and the substance vomited is said to be foamy. […] A tincture of the bark of the root and of the leaves will also serve, and it would appear that the virtue of the former though lessened is not lost by its becoming dry. Melianthus comosus can be used for the bite of any snake. This plant can also be used to counteract the poison of other venomous creatures such as the intonjane, a poisonous caterpillar found at the top of tall grasses, coated over with pieces of grass. […] Another mode is to scarify the wound and drop into it the juice of the leaves, and drink some of the juice in water.

It should be noted that the plants, and particularly their roots, contain toxic bufadienolides, fatal poisoning having reportedly occurred following medicinal use — see Anderson & Koekemoer (1969a), Anderson & Koekemoer (1969b), Bedane et al. (2020a).

Arora et al. (2023) investigated a case of a 33-year old male botanist who presented with a persistent red and itchy rash that began on his extremities but later spread diffusely over his body. The lesions first appeared two days after handling Melianthus comosus plants with his bare hands while on a research trip. He also experienced dyspnea and severe nausea the night after tasting the black-coloured nectar from the plant and then consuming a meal prior to washing his hands. Patch testing with nectar from the flowers, with a synthesised ellagic acid-iron complex (being the pigment found in the nectar; see Magner et al. 2023), and with ellagic acid all produced delayed (4 days) positive patch test reactions. No reaction occurred with gallic acid.

Thring & Weitz (2006) noted that Melianthus comosus Vahl is useful for treating sores on livestock as well as people, adding that the plant is toxic and should not be taken internally:

A large handful or bunch of the plant leaves is placed in a bucket of boiling water to draw. This is then used to wash wounds and sores.

Melianthus major L.

[syn. Melianthus himalayanus Wall.]

Cape Honeyflower, Giant Honeyflower, Great Honeyflower, Honey Bush

Steyn (1934) and Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk (1962), citing Pappe (1857), together with other authors cited by Quattrocchi (2012), Mabona & Van Vuuren (2013), and by Maroyi (2019), have noted that in South African traditional medicine, a decoction of the leaves is an excellent external remedy for tinea capitis, crusta serpiginosa [= favus ?], necrosis, and foul ulcers; the bruised leaves are applied to ulcers to promote granulation; and that a leaf poultice or leaf decoction is applied to treat abscesses, boils, bruises, burns, impetigo, pimples, septic wounds and sores [of unspecified aetiology], and snakebite.

It should be noted that the plants contain toxic bufadienolides (Bedane et al. 2020b). See also Melianthus comosus Vahl above.

References

• Anderson LAP, Koekemoer JM (1969a) Toxic bufadienolides from Melianthus comosus Vahl. Joernaal van die Suid-Afrikaanse Chemiese Instituut ~ Journal of the South African Chemical Institute 22(Suppl): 119–124 [doi] [doi-2] [url] [url-2]
• Anderson LAP, Koekemoer JM (1969b) The chemistry of Melianthus Vahl. Part III. The constitution of melianthugenin and melianthusigenin, new bufadienolides from the root-bark. Joernaal van die Suid-Afrikaanse Chemiese Instituut ~ Journal of the South African Chemical Institute 22(3): 191–197 [doi] [url] [url-2]
• Arora P, Magner ET, Bigliardi PL (2023) Honey flower dermatitis: Contact allergy to ellagic acid in Melianthus comosus. Food and Chemical Toxicology 179: 113956 (4 pp.) [doi] [url] [pmid]
• Bedane KG, Brieger L, Strohmann C, Seo E-J, Efferth T, Spiteller M (2020a) Cytotoxic bufadienolides from the leaves of a medicinal plant Melianthus comosus collected in South Africa. Bioorganic Chemistry 102: 104102 (6 pp.) [doi] [url] [pmid]
• Bedane KG, Brieger L, Strohmann C, Seo E-J, Efferth T, Spiteller M (2020b) Cytotoxic bufadienolides from the leaves of Melianthus major. Journal of Natural Products 83(7): 2122–2128 [doi] [url] [url-2] [pmid]
• Hunt P (Ed.) (1968/70) The Marshall Cavendish Encyclopedia of Gardening. London: Marshall Cavendish [WorldCat]
• Mabberley DJ (1997) The Plant-Book. A portable dictionary of the higher plants, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [WorldCat]
• Mabberley DJ (2017) Mabberley's Plant-Book. A portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses, 4th edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [WorldCat] [doi] [url]
• Mabona U, Van Vuuren SF (2013) Southern African medicinal plants used to treat skin diseases. South African Journal of Botany 87: 175–193 [doi] [url]
• Magner ET, Roy R, Freund Saxhaug K, Zambre A, Bruns K, Snell-Rood EC, Hampton M, Hegeman AD, Carter CJ (2023) Post-secretory synthesis of a natural analog of iron-gall ink in the black nectar of Melianthus spp. New Phytologist 239(5): 2026–2040 [doi] [url] [url-2] [pmid]
• Maroyi A (2019) Melianthus major L. (Francoaceae): review of its medicinal uses, phytochemistry and biological activities. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research 11(11): 3638–3642 [url]
• Maroyi A (2019) A review of the ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacological properties of Melianthus comosus Vahl. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research 11(11): 3655–3660 [url]
• Pappe L (1857) Floræ Capensis Medicæ Prodromus; or, an enumeration of South African indigenous plants used as remedies by the colonists of the Cape of Good Hope, 2nd edn. Cape Town: W Brittain [WorldCat] [url] [url-2]
• Quattrocchi U (2012) CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants. Common names, scientific names, eponyms, synonyms, and etymology, Vols 1‒5. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press [doi] [WorldCat] [url] [url-2]
• Smith A (1895) A Contribution to South African Materia Medica, chiefly from plants in use among the natives, 3rd edn. Cape Town, South Africa: JC Juta [WorldCat] [url] [url-2]
• Steyn DG (1934) The Toxicology of Plants in South Africa together with a consideration of poisonous foodstuffs and fungi. South Africa: Central News Agency [WorldCat]
• Thring TSA, Weitz FM (2006) Medicinal plant use in the Bredasdorp/Elim region of the Southern Overberg in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 103(2): 261–275 [doi] [url] [url-2] [pmid]
• Watt JM, Breyer-Brandwijk MG (1962) The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa. Being an account of their medicinal and other uses, chemical composition, pharmacological effects and toxicology in man and animal, 2nd edn. Edinburgh: E & S Livingstone [doi] [WorldCat] [url] [url-2]
• Wicht WF (1918) South African huismiddels. South African Medical Record 16(20): 306–310 [doi] [url] [url-2]

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