About Hagenia abyssinica (Bruce) J.F.Gmel.
Hagenia abyssinica (Bruce) J.F.Gmel. is a tree that grows up to 20 meters tall, with a short trunk, thick branches, and thick peeling bark. Its leaves can reach 40 centimeters in length, and are compound, bearing between 7 and 13 leaflets. Each individual leaflet is around 10 centimeters long, with finely serrated margins; it is green on the upper surface, and covered in silvery hairs on the lower surface. The flowers range in color from white to orange-buff or pinkish-red, and are borne in panicles 30 to 60 centimeters long. This species typically grows at elevations between 2000 and 3000 meters, in regions that receive 1000 to 1500 millimeters of rainfall annually. It can be found growing in mixed afromontane forest alongside Podocarpus, Afrocarpus, and other trees, in drier afromontane forests and woodlands where Hagenia is the dominant species, or in mixed stands of Hagenia and Juniperus procera. It often grows near the upper limit of forest growth, where the forest transitions upward into giant heather zones. Hagenia abyssinica acts as a food plant for the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the turnip moth. A drug derived from this tree called Kousso is made from the tree's entire inflorescence, held in shape by a band wrapped transversely around it. The active compound of Kousso is koussin (also called kosin), with the chemical formula C31H38O10. Koussin is soluble in alcohol and alkalis, and may be administered directly in measured doses or as an infusion made from coarsely powdered flowers. It is considered an effective anthelmintic for the tapeworm Taenia solium.
