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Afzelia africana

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Species of legume

Afzelia africana
Habit in Senegal, with foliage below
Conservation status

Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Afzelia
Species: A. africana
Binomial name
Afzelia africana
Sm.

Afzelia africana, the African mahogany, afzelia, lenke, lengue, apa, or doussi, is a Myrmecophyte tree species in the family Fabaceae.

Range

It occurs in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, DRCongo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. It is typically found in dense, evergreen forests, but may also be found in the savanna and the coastal forests of East Africa.

Description

Mature trees grow between 6 and 30 m in height. Produces white or greenish-white flowers with a red or pink stripe in panicles. The flowers give way to dark brown or black shiny fruits containing poisonous black seeds attached to an edible orange aril. The trunk diameter may reach 100–170 cm, sometimes more. The leaves are bright green, about 30 cm long, with 7-17 pairs of elliptic or ovate leaflets.

Uses

Afzelia africana was used in the Middle Ages for ship building. It is one of the traditional djembe woods. The building of a reconstructed 9th-century Arab merchantman, the Jewel of Muscat, required thirty-eight tons of Afzelia africana wood, which was supplied from Ghana. Curved trees were chosen for the ship's frames and timbers. The trade name for the wood of this species is doussié; it is known for being resistant to decay and termites.

The leaves are sometimes used as fodder for livestock. The bark is often used for medicinal purposes in West Africa, and some groups regard the tree as "a refuge of invisible spirits".

Gallery

  • seed pod halves and seed seed pod halves and seed
  • open seed pod with seeds in situ open seed pod with seeds in situ
  • seeds with arils seeds with arils
  • wood sample wood sample

References

  1. Hills, R. (2020). "Afzelia africana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T33032A67742420. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T33032A67742420.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Afzelia africana (PROTA) - PlantUse English". uses.plantnet-project.org. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  3. ^ "Doussié". Tropical Timber. Archived from the original on 2017-06-07. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  4. "Afzelia africana in Global Plants on JSTOR". plants.jstor.org. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  5. ^ Orwa (2009). "Afzelia africana" (PDF). Agroforestry Database 4.0. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  6. Jackson, Robert (March–April 2012). "Sailing Through Time: Jewel of Muscat". Saudi Aramco World. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  7. Henning, Michi. "Djembe Woods: What You Need to Know". djembefola.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  8. Jewel of Muscat timeline. Accessed 2013-01-13.
  9. Balima, Larba Hubert; Nacoulma, Blandine Marie Ivette; Ekué, Marius Rodrigue Mensah; Kouamé, François N’Guessan; Thiombiano, Adjima (2018-03-27). "Use patterns, use values and management of Afzelia africana Sm. in Burkina Faso: implications for species domestication and sustainable conservation". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 14 (1): 23. doi:10.1186/s13002-018-0221-z. ISSN 1746-4269. PMC 5870347. PMID 29587813.

External links

Media related to Afzelia africana at Wikimedia Commons

Taxon identifiers
Afzelia africana
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