**2.1** *Alcornea cordifolia* **(Schumach & Thonn) Müll. Arg. Euphorbiaceae**

*Alchornea cordifolia*, commonly called the Christmas bush is a straggling, laxly branched evergreen dioecious shrub growing up to about 8 m tall. It is locally known as '*agyama'* in the Ghanaian Akan language and an essential medicinal plant in traditional medicine. Various parts of the plant are used to treat jaundice, diarrhea, rheumatic pains, malaria, fever, wounds, colds, asthma, amoebic dysentery and worm infections. Other literatures report its use in the treatment of urinary and gastrointestinal infections, leprosy, yaws, filariasis as an antidote to snake venom [32].

The anthelminthic potency of the petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol extracts of *A. cordifolia* leaves were investigated by evaluating its effect on the gross motility and mortality of earthworms (*Pheretima posthuma*). The extracts displayed significant (*p* < 0.001) concentration-dependent anthelminthic activity at concentration range of 0.75 to 12.00 mg/mL. At the highest concentration, worm paralysis was effectuated between 10 and 26 mins whiles death occurred between 57 to 93 min. The effect of the extracts in reducing the paralysis and death times of the worms was significantly higher than the effect on albendazole-treated worms [33].
