Ecology, Botany and Medicinal Properties of Terminalia myrtifolia (M.A.Lawson) Gere & Boatwr. (Combretaceae).

<i>Terminalia myrtifolia</i> (M.A.Lawson) Gere & Boatwr. has a long history of medicinal use in tropical Africa. The primary purpose of this study was to review the ecology, botany and medicinal properties of <i>T. myrtifolia</i>. A search for available information on the ecology, medicinal uses and ethnopharmacological properties of <i>T. myrtifolia</i> was conducted by systematically searching the scientific databases such as ScienceDirect<sup>®</sup>, PubMed<sup>®</sup>, Web of Science, SpringerLink<sup>®</sup>, Google Scholar, Scopus<sup>®</sup> and SciELO, as well as pre-electronic literature sources such as book chapters, books and other scientific publications obtained from the university library. This study showed that the bark, fruits, leaves, roots or stem bark of <i>T. myrtifolia</i> are used as traditional medicines for menstrual problems, dysentery, fever, infertility or sterility, swellings of the stomach, venereal diseases, sores and wounds. The ethnopharmacological evaluations showed that the crude extracts and phytochemical compounds isolated from the species have antibacterial, antifungal and antiproliferative activities. To realize the full potential of <i>T. myrtifolia </i>as an herbal medicine, future studies should focus on conducting detailed phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological evaluations, <i>in vivo</i> and clinical research.