Kumuchwichwi - The tree with the wizzing sound

KUMUCHWICHWI / KUMUTOTOA / KUMUKUMUSIA / KUMUTOBOSO-saboti language (croton macrostachyus)

Makes wizzing sound when wind blows

Derivation of the name: Khuchwiila - Wizzing sound, produced when wind strongly blows against the tree. Kunusia - easily uprooted or falls off, breaks due strong wind.

Natural habitat and distribution in Bungoma: Habitat: Moist or dry forest of higher altitude, wooded grassland and woodland. Distribution: widely distributed in cultivated land, common in forest remnants and in riverine vegetation.

Description: Bark grey, smooth. Leaves heart-shaped, up to 20 cm long, densely hairy beneath, turning orange before falling off, long leaf stalk, two stalked gland at the leaf base. Flower small, sweet scented, many along erect spikes up to 30 cm long, turning downwards as fruits mature. Fruit tri-lobed, up to 1 cm in diameter, releasing 3 shiny seeds.

Physical Features: Shape: medium to large sized erect tree up to 25 m, straight trunk. Crown:  open, spreading branches. Foliage: light, deciduous.

Biological Features: Mulch: Highly leafy biomass production, very good mulching quality, leaves decompose rather slowly.

Tree crop association: appreciated shade tree in coffee plantations, generally intercropped with various types of crops. Biomass production: fast growing in good sites.  Other characteristics:  smoky firewood with unpleasant smell, seed and resin are poisonous, wood perishable.

Management: lopping, pollarding, coppicing.

Ecological benefits: soil improvement.

Tree product and use: light timber, shade, poles, bee forage, firewood, mulch, intercropping, tool handles.

Medicinal application: Leaves: whooping cough.  Bark: rashes all over the body, pain in the feet, malaria, STD, after birth pains, pneumonia. Root: weak joints, gonorrhoea.

Related species: Croton megalocarpus Hutch. The tree is indigenous in Kenya and one of the most appreciated agroforestry species in Kikuyu land use and agriculture. It was introduced to Bungoma as a shade tree. The crown is flattened, the leaves are livery beneath.