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Mundulea has been recognized as an efficient fish poison for many- 
years in East Africa* In tests with sprays and dusts against aphids, 
oaterpillars, bugs, psylla, cookroaches, and ,hous ef lies, the bark from 
the Moa district (rotenone 0.9 percent) was as toxic as the Amarii derris 
(rotenone 5.4 percent), but bark obtained from two other districts 
(rotenone 0.5 percent) was only about half as toxic The powder dusted 
on cockroaches and flies, although having a much smaller initial effect 
than pyrethrum and not causing any rapid knock-down, yet caused death 
in about half the time; derris had the same action. The seeds were 
about three-quarters as toxic as the bark, but were unlikely to be of 
any commercial value on account of their scarcity.—Worsley (432, 435 ) « 
Samples of Mundulea bark from various localities in Tanganyika 
and Zanzibar, when examined chemically and biologically, fell into two 
main divisions, (l) those with smooth barks, which were toxic, and 
(2) those with rough, corky barks, which were nontoxic. No correlation 
existed between toxicity and the amount of ether-extractable material* 
A fair correlation was found between toxicity and rotenone content, the 
toxicity being about 1*6 times as great as for pure rotenone. The 
mortality of the aphids tested ranged from. 0*0 to 85 percent* The 
12 samples analysed ranged in rotenone content from to 0*55 peroent 
and the ether extract from 4.1 to 8.9 percent*— Worsley (433 ) * 
Extracts of Mundulea applied as sprays against adult mosquitoes were 
much inferior to the standard mosquitocide*— Wats and Singh (421 )* 
Mundulea was one of three plants found to compare favorably with 
standard insecticides* It is largely obtained in Mysore, India, and 
the stem bark contained the insecticidal principle*— Subraraaniam ( 385 ) • 
A sample of Mundulea from the Union of South Africa contained no 
rotenone, but it was slightly toxic to the bean aphid. A sample of 
stems from another source in South Africa was nontoxic, whereas a sample 
of stems from India was toxic. A 1-percent extract of leaves from 
India proved completely toxic— Anonymous (36)* 
The genus Mundulea contains 20 species, the majority of which are 
reoorded from Madagascar* At one time inoluded under Tephrosia , it is 
now regarded as a connecting link between that genus and Millettia . 
Mundulea sericea has been found in India, Ceylon, Madagascar, and in 
Africa from the Sudan to Natal* The seeds and bark have been used in 
India and the bark in East Africa for poisoning fish. An erect shrub 
or a slender tree up to 25 feet tall, it shows either a smooth, greenish 
yellow-brown bark or a rough, longitudinally fissured, very corky 
yellowish-brown bark* The leaf, bark, and root of the Indian variety 
possessed marked insecticidal properties against aphids and beetles, in 
contrast to the African variety, the leaf and root of which were reported 
as distinctly less potent than the bark* The toxicity of none of these 
parts was of the same order as that of the root of Derris elliptioa 
(rotenone about 9 percent)*— Tattersfield and Potter (395) . 
