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EXISTING PLANTS

 

Bamboo

 

Bamboos are a group of woody perennial evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Some of its members are giants, forming by far the largest members of the grass family.

 

There are 91 genera and about 1,000 species of bamboo. They are found in diverse climates, from cold mountains to hot tropical regions. They occur from Northeast Asia (at 50°N latitude in Sakhalin), south throughout East Asia west to the Himalaya, and south to northern Australia. They also occur in sub-Saharan Africa, and in the Americas from the southeast of the USA south to Chile, there reaching their furthest south anywhere, at 47°S latitude. Major areas with no native bamboos include Europe, north Africa, western Asia, northern North America, most of Australia, and Antarctica.

 

The stems, or 'culms', can range in height from a few centimetres to 40 metres, with stem diameters ranging from 1 mm to 30 cm. The stems are jointed, with regular nodes; each node bears one side bud. These buds do not necessarily develop (especially in lower portions of the culm of tall bamboos) but are present. Buds that do develop ramify quickly with very short basal internodes into a cluster of several shoots, which usually develop into branches and occasionally into adventitious rhizomes. Branchlets form from the branches, and leaves grow off the branchlets. They are thus, unlike most other grasses, extensively branched; in large-growing species a single stem may carry many thousands of branchlets.

 

Although bamboo is a grass, many of the larger bamboos are very tree-like in appearance and they are sometimes called "bamboo trees". The reason bamboos are so different from trees is they lack a vascular cambium layer and meristem cells at the top of the culm. The vascular cambium is the perpetually growing layer of a tree's trunk beneath the bark that makes it increase in diameter each year. The meristems make the tree grow taller.

A single culm (stem) of bamboo from an established rhizome (root) system reaches full height in one growing season, but then persists for several years, gradually increasing the number of side branches and branchlets, but growing neither broader nor taller.

 

Some species of bamboo rarely flower, some of them only every 28–120 years[1][2]. Some of these species are monocarpic, the plant dying after the seed matures. Furthermore, all the individuals of the species flower at the same time in a large geographical region. This trait is thought to have evolved because it reduces the effect of predators of the seed, since they are less likely to be able to wipe out the seed production, and cannot depend on bamboo as a food supply between flowerings.

 

Established bamboo will send up shoots that generally grow to their full height in a single season, making it the fastest growing woody plant. Several subtropical bamboo species can grow 30 cm (1 foot) per day, with some species having been documented as growing over 100 cm in one day. For the species most widely cultivated in gardens, 3–5 cm per day is more typical. A newly transplanted bamboo plant can take 1–2 years before it sends up new shoots (culms) and will have many seasons of "sizing up" before new shoots achieve the maximum potential height for that species.

 

The shoots (new bamboo culms that come out of the ground) of bamboo, called zhú sǔn (simplified: or simply sǔn in Chinese, are edible. They are used in Asian stir fry, and are available in supermarkets in various sliced forms. Bamboo shoot tips are called zhú sǔn jiān

 

In Indonesia they are sliced thinly and then boiled with santan (thick coconut milk) and spices to make a dish named gulai rebung. Other recipes using bamboo shoots are : sayur lodeh (mixed vegetables in coconut milk) and lun pia (sometimes written lumpia; fried wrapped bamboo shoots with vegetables). Note that the shoots of some species contain toxins that need to be leached or boiled out before they can be eaten safely.

 

Pickled bamboo, used as a condiment, may also be made from the pith of the young shoots.

The sap of young stalks tapped during the rainy season may be fermented to make ulanzi (a sweet wine), or simply made into a soft drink. Zhúyèqīng jiǔ () is a green-coloured Chinese liquor that has bamboo leaves as one of its ingredients.

 

Bamboo leaves are also used as wrappers for zongzi, a steamed dumpling typical of southern China, which usually contains glutinous rice and other ingredients.

 

When treated, bamboo forms a very hard wood which is both light and exceptionally tough. In tropical climates it is used in elements of house construction, as well as for fences, bridges, toilets, walking sticks, canoes], drinkware, furniture, chopsticks, food steamers, toys, construction scaffolding, as a substitute for steel reinforcing rods in concrete construction, hats, martial arts weaponry, abaci and various musical instruments such as the dizi, xiao, shakuhachi, palendag, jinghu, and angklung. The Bamboo Organ of Las Pinas, Philippines has pipes made of bamboo culms. When bamboo is harvested for wood, care is needed to select mature stems that are several years old, as first-year stems, although full size, are not fully woody and are not strong.

 

Bamboo is also widely carved for decorative artwork. Modern companies are attempting to popularize bamboo flooring made of bamboo pieces steamed, flattened, glued together, finished, and cut. However, bamboo wood is easily infested by wood-boring insects unless treated with wood preservatives or kept very dry (see carving, right).

 

Bamboo canes are normally round in cross-section, but square canes can be produced by forcing the new young culms to grow through a tube of square cross-section slightly smaller than the culm's natural diameter, thereby constricting the growth to the shape of the tube. Every few days the tube is removed and replaced higher up the fast-growing culm.

 

The fibre of bamboo has been used to make paper in China since early times. A high quality hand-made paper is still produced in small quantities. Coarse bamboo paper is still used to make spirit money in many Chinese communities.

 

The wood is used for knitting needles and the fibre can be used for yarn and fabrics. Bamboo fabric is notable for its soft feel and natural antibacterial properties[citation needed]. Clothing made from bamboo fibre is popular for activities such as yoga. Bed sheets and towels made from bamboo have become luxury items[citation needed]. Sharpened bamboo is also traditionally used to tattoo in Japan, Hawaii and elsewhere.

Miracle Berry

 

Terminalia superba or black korina, limba, white afara
 

Terminalia superba is a large tree, up to 50 m tall and 5 m in girth, bole cylindrical, long and straight with large, flat buttresses, 6 m above the soil surface; crown open, generally flattened, consisting of a few whorled branches. Bark fairly smooth, greying, flaking off in small patches; slash yellow. Root system frequently fairly shallow, and as the tree ages the taproot disappears. Buttresses, from which descending roots arise at some distance from the trunk, then support the tree. Leaves simple, alternate, in tufts at the ends of the branches; deciduous, leaving pronounced scars on twigs when shed. Petiole 3-7 cm long, flattened above, with a pair of subopposite glands below the blade; lamina glabrous, obovate, 6-12 x 2.5-7 cm, with a short acuminate apex. Nerves 6-8 pairs; secondary reticulation inconspicuous. Inflorescence a 7-18-cm, laxly flowered spike, peduncle densely pubescent; flowers sessile, small, greenish-white; calyx tube saucer shaped, with 5 short triangular lobes. Petals absent. Stamens usually twice the number of calyx lobes (usually 10), in 2 whorls, glabrous; filaments a little longer than calyx; intrastaminal disc annular, flattened, 0.3 mm thick; densely woolly pubescent. Fruit a small, transversely winged, sessile, golden-brown smooth nut, 1.5-2.5 x 4-7 cm (including the wings). Nut without the wing about 1.5 x 2 cm when mature, usually containing 1 seed. The generic name comes from the Latin ‘terminalis’ (ending), and refers to the habit of the leaves being crowded at the ends of the shoots.

Fibre: T. superba has potential importance in paper making, offering the capability of producing a relatively wide range of pulps. The fibre has a flexibility factor of 70-79%, high values that suggest good tear-and-burst strength. The yield of raw chemical alkaline pulp is 40-50%, depending on the degree of lignification. The wood may be used in the manufacture of cellulose, panelling and also as particle boards. Timber: The wood is normally creamy white with no noticeable distinction between sapwood and heartwood. The log varies from 50 to 120% mc, depending on the time that elapses between felling and conversion. After exposure to the air, it darkens slightly, verging on a tanned appearance, and resembling a light oak. Three types of commercial limba are recognized: white or straw coloured; black, olive-grey to blackish-brown; and multicoloured, with dark and light streaks. The wood is soft to medium hard, light in weight, somewhat weak, easy to saw and machine, and accepts paints and varnish well. The density of the wood is 480-650 kg/m³ at 12% mc. It can be used for many purposes and is widely known and used, particularly in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. Used in plywood manufacture, furniture, joinery, for plinths, mouldings, general fittings, and door faces and, after suitable treatment, for external joinery.

Intercropping: T. superba has been used for mixed farming; associate species pairs such as T. ivorensis and T. superba; T. superba and Triplochiton scleroxylon are common.

Terminalia superba is highly regarded in some parts of Cameroon in traditional medical practice. We have studied the vasorelaxant effects of the stem bark methanol extract of T. superba on rat vascular smooth muscle. The results demonstrated that T. superba extract provoked a time-dependent relaxation of aortic rings precontracted with norepinephrine (10(-6) M). The vasorelaxant effect of the plant extract was not affected by endothelium removal or by pretreatment with indomethacin or N(W)-nitro-Larginine methyl ester (L-NAME). T. superba extract did not significantly, affect the contraction induced by 30 mM or 60 mM KCl as compared to those induced by NE. Relaxations elicited by T. superba extract were markedly reduced by glibenclamide, a putative blocker for K(ATP) channels and by tetraethylammonium, the non-specific K+ channel inhibitor. T. superba caused a time- and concentration-dependent relaxation of the rat aortic rings that were inhibited by charybdotoxin and iberotoxin but not by apamin. These finding indicate that T. superba extract at least partially relaxes the rat aorta by activating K+ channels, mainly KATP channels and large-conductance Ca2+ -activated K+ channels in rat aorta.  T Dimo, F Laurent, SV Rakotonirina, PV Tan, P Kamtchouing, E Dongo, G Cros  Department of Animal Biology and Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon.

 

Triplochiton scleroxylon or African whitewood

Triplochiton scleroxylon is a large deciduous forest tree commonly attaining 45 m in height and 1.5 m in diameter. The boles of mature trees are often heavily buttressed but usually free from branches. Bark ashy grey or yellowish-brown, usually smooth in young trees but scaly and with fissures in older ones. Slash fibrous, creamy white to pale yellow. Young trees have a cylindrical-shaped crown bearing foliage almost to the ground; self-pruning gradually modifies this to a high, dense, circular crown, which finally becomes flat-topped when the trees are old. Leaves 10-20 cm long and broad, palmate with 5-7 lobes, cordate and 5-7 nerved at base, lobes broadly ovate, triangular or oblong, rounded or obtusely acuminate at the apex; glabrous; stalk 3-10 cm long. Leaves of saplings and coppice shoots often larger and more deeply lobed than the crown leaves. Inflorescence a paniculate cyme, 4-5 cm long, with dichotomous branching. Flower saucer-shaped; petals white, red-purple at base, obovate, densely hairy, about 1 cm long and broad; stamens 30-46; carpels 5. Fruits brown to reddish-brown, composed of 1-5 winged carpels, each carpel more or less rhombic; measuring 0.8-2 cm across the diagonal, wing 4-6 cm long, 1.2-2 cm broad, oblong-obovate with a thickened margin. Mericarp may be densely or sparsely pilose, either from the point of attachment to the slit at the apex or only on the slit and at the point of attachment. The generic name is derived from triplostichus (in or having 3 rows) and –chiton (Greek for covering. The specific name is derived from sclero- (Greek for hard) and xylon (Greek, relating to wood).

 

Fibre: Although the main uses of T. scleroxylon are as timber, the wood is also used for fibreboard and particleboard. Timber: Heartwood and sapwood are not clearly differentiated, and the latter is reported to be up to 15 cm wide. Texture usually varies from coarse to moderately fine and even with a natural sheen on the surface. There is usually an unpleasant odour when wood is freshly cut, but the smell disappears after it is seasoned. The wood dries very rapidly and readily, with little or no degradation. Lumber must be stacked carefully to permit good air circulation. Distortion and knot splits may occur during drying. The heartwood is reported to be resistant to preservative treatment. The sapwood is permeable. The material has a slight abrasive effect. It is reported to respond well to hand and machine tools in moulding and most operations. Cutting edges should be kept very sharp when working end-grain material since it has a tendency to crumble and chip at tool exits. Carving characteristics are reported to be generally good. The wood is reported to have good gluing qualities, and gluing is preferable over nailing and screwing for jointed work. Staining properties are reported to be satisfactory, but the surface requires careful filling. Obeche is recognized as a very important source of timber for export. It is reported to be readily available in both veneer and lumber forms. Some of the uses include blockboard, boat and ship building, boxes and crates, cabinet making, plywood, furniture components, marquetry, moldings, bedroom suites, building materials, casks, chests, cutting surfaces, excelsior, furniture, interior construction, radio, stereo and TV cabinets.

Celtis or Trema orientalis and commonly known as charcoal tree, Indian charcoal tree, Indian nettle tree, pigeon wood

 

The name Trema is based on the Greek word for a hole and alludes to the pitted seeds. The specific name, ‘orientalis’ is Latin for eastern-'of the orient.'

Trema orientalis is an evergreen shrub or tree up to 18 m in height. A short basally swollen bole, heavy branching and rounded to spreading crown. The slender branchlets are covered with white velvety hairs. Bark grey or brown, smooth but marked with parallel longitudinal lines and corky spots; slash creamy-white to light yellow, fibrous, bright green immediately beneath the bark. It has an extensive root system that enables it to survive long periods of drought. Leaves simple, alternate, stipulate, along drooping branches, to 14 cm long, papery, rough to the touch and dull above, short grey hairs below, the edge finely toothed all round, blade unequal sided. Flowers small, green or greenish-white, unisexual, borne in a crowded inflorescence consisting mainly of male flowers with a few female ones at the top. Fruit small, round and fleshy, glossy black when ripe, 4-6 mm, containing 1 dull black seed embedded in bright green flesh.

 

Food: The leaves and fruit are reported to be eaten in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Fodder: The leaves, pods and seeds are used for fodder. Silage made from the foliage has a crude protein content 18.9 g/100 g dry matter, and in the Philippines is fed to cattle, buffaloes and goats. The high fibre content and toxins usually limit the use of leaf meal in feeds. However, these limitations can be overcome by extracting protein from the leaves. Apiculture: T. orientalis makes good bee forage. Fuel: A fast-growing species which coppices well, it can provide plenty of firewood and excellent charcoal which is even suitable for making gunpowder and fireworks. Fibre: An appropriate tropical hardwood for paper and pulp production. Paper made from T. orientalis has good tensile strength and folding endurance. The bark is made into ropes, which are also employed as waterproof fishing lines in Tanzania. Timber: Wood is off-white or tinged with pink and fine grained but of low durability. Used in manufacturing panel products, poles and drumsticks. Tannin or dyestuff: The bark yields a black dye and the leaves a coffee-coloured one. The bark and leaves contain a saponin and tannin. Lipids: The seed contains a dark green fixed oil. Medicine: Both bark and leaf decoctions are used as a gargle, inhalation, drink, lotion, bath or vapour bath for coughs, sore throat, asthma, bronchitis, gonorrhoea, yellow fever, toothache, as a vermifuge, and it is known to have anti plasmodium properties. The leaves are reported to be a general antidote to poisons and a bark infusion is drunk to control dysentery. A leaf decoction is used to deworm dogs. Other uses: The inner bark is rubbed on ropes to blacken and preserve them.

Erosion control: T. orientalis rapidly grows on disturbed soil so helps in soil conservation. Shade or shelter: Often planted as a shade tree in coffee and cocoa plantations and also in other crops in Asia and Africa. Reclamation: A common pioneer species, it is one of the first to become established on poor soils to reforest denuded or disturbed areas. Seeds germinate readily and growth is rapid so it is widely planted for soil reclamation. Soil improver: The mulch is used to improve the soil. The tree is common as a fallow species in shifting cultivation.

 

Ornamental: It is often planted as a garden tree. Its fast growth makes it a popular choice for a new garden.

Albizia ferruginea

 

Albizia ferruginea is a tree, 6-40 m high with a beautiful spreading crown. Bole nearly straight; bark rough, thick, peeling off in older trees. Young branchlets densely rusty, pubescent or sometimes subtomentose. Slash light brown with reddish patches. Leaves bipinnate, consisting of 3-5 pinnae oppositely arranged, terminal pinnae; terminal pinnae pairs on the leaf stalk have 15-16 leaflets, which can grow up to 2cm long and 0.8 cm wide. Leaflets oblong, tip and base round; smooth on top and hairy underneath. Leaf indumentum red. Flowers greenish-cream in tight clusters, calyx 3-6 mm long covered with rusty hairs. Stamen numerous, filaments up to 5 cm, staminal tube not or scarcely exserted beyond corolla. Fruit a pod, 15-20 cm long and 4 cm wide, reddish-brown glossy and veined; containing 9-12 flattened seeds, seed 7-10 mm long and 4.5-8 mm wide. The genus was named after Filippo del Albizzi, a Florentine nobleman who in 1749 introduced A. julibrissin into cultivation. The specific epithet refers to the colour of the pods.

 

Fodder: Forage legume eaten by goats, reports from Nigeria lists it highest in a sample of 44 species in protein content and crude fibre. Apiculture: The tree provides nectar for bees. Fuel: Branches are used as firesticks. Timber: A. ferruginea wood is medium-heavy 600-700 kg/cu. m when air seasoned; reasonably hard and durable. The heartwood is moderately resistant to termites. The wood saws easily and is used for interior construction, building of vehicle bodies, veneer production, furniture and wood carvings. It is advisable to treat surfaces with a grain filler before polishing. Wood also suitable for wooden houses. Poison: The bark is reportedly poisonous. Medicine: In Ghana, plant parts are used to elicit purgation and treat dysentery. The bark decoction is used as a wash for wounds and sores. Other products: The leaves are rich in saponins and are used in washing.

Shade or shelter: A. ferruginea is a shade tree. Nitrogen fixing: Forms vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza; highest mycorrhizal inoculation effect was observed at soil P concentration of 0.02 mg/litre. Based on these data, both Albizia and Enterolobium were classified as highly mycorrhizal dependent species. Nodulation is reported in A. ferruginea, Rhizobium-type root nodules are found on the roots. Soil improver: The tree’s leaf litter improves the quality of surrounding soil. Ornamental: A. ferruginea is a beautiful tree suitable for planting along avenues and in parks.

Calotropis procera – rubber tree

Calotropis procera is a shrub or small tree up to 2.5 m (max. 6) high, stem usually simple, rarely branched, woody at base and covered with a fissured, corky bark; branches somewhat succulent and densely white tomentose; early glabrescent. All parts of the plant exude a white latex when cut or broken. Leaves opposite, simple, subsessile, stipule absent; blade oblong-obovate to broadly obovate, 5-30 x 2.5-15.5 cm, apex abruptly and shortly acuminate to apiculate, base cordate, margins entire, succulent, white tomentose when young, later glabrescent and glaucous. Inflorescence a dense, multiflowered, umbellate cyme arising from the nodes and appearing axillary or terminal; flowers hermaphroditic, pentamerous; pedicle 1-3 cm long; calyx 5-lobed, shortly united at the base, lobes ovate, 4-7 x 3-4 mm, glabrescent. Fruit, a simple, fleshy, inflated, subglobose to obliquely ovoid follicle up to 10 cm or more in diameter; seeds numerous, flat obovate, 6 x 5 mm, with silky white pappus 3 cm or more long. The specific name, procera is Latin for tall or high.

 

Food: The bark and latex are used in brewing and to curdle milk. Fodder: Young pods, senescing leaves and flowers are eaten by goats, occasionally by sheep in times of need, and rarely by cattle and other livestock because they are slightly toxic. Nutritional analysis of shade-dried leaves of C. procera shows they contain 94% dry matter, 43% acid detergent fibre, 20% ash, 19% crude protein, 19% neutral detergent fibre, 5% magnesium, 2% oil, 0.59% phosphorus, 0.2% zinc, 0.04% iron and 0.02% calcium. Fuel: Stems produce a good charcoal, while the stem pith makes good tinder. Produces an effective and sustained smoky fire, suitable for drying fish. Charcoal has been used for gunpowder in India. Fibre: White, silky, strong, cylindrical, flexible and durable stem fibre used for various purposes, such as for making ropes, to form cheap cots, gunny bags, bow strings, fishing nets, and in the manufacture of paper, pulp and duplicating stencils. The floss from the seeds, which is about 2-3.5 cm long, white silky and strong, is used as an inferior stuffing for mattresses and pillows as well as for weaving into a strong cloth.

 

The floss may also substitute cotton wool for surgical purposes. Strong inner bark fibres produce a binding material and are processed into fabrics. Timber: Stems are termite proof and used for roofing and building huts. The very light wood can also be used for fishing net floats. Latex or rubber: The liquid latex of C. procera can be used as a renewable source of hydrocarbons and intermediate energy resources. Latex contains 11-23% of rubber. Tannin or dyestuff: A macerated bark extract can be used for dehairing hides and tanning. Additional minor uses includes dyes. Poison: The bark and the latex are widely used as arrow and spear poisons. The latex is cardiotoxic with the active ingredient being calotropin. Latex of C. procera is 80% effective in inhibiting the activity of the tobacco mosaic virus. The leafy branches are said to deter ants. Medicine: Compounds derived from the plant have been found to have emeto-cathartic and digitalic properties.

 

The principal active medicinals are asclepin and mudarin. Other compounds have been found to have bactericidal and vermicidal properties. The latex contains a proteolytic enzyme called caloptropaine. An infusion of bark powder is used in the treatment and cure of leprosy and elephantiasis. It is inadvisable to use bark that has been kept for more than a year. The root bark is an emetic, the flower a digestive, and a tonic is used for asthma and catarrh. Bark and wood stimulate lactation in cattle. Roots (extremely poisonous) are applied for snakebite. The milky sap is used as a rubefacient and is also strongly purgative and caustic. The latex is used for treating ringworm, guinea worm blisters, scorpion stings, venereal sores and ophthalmic disorders; also used as a laxative. Its use in India in the treatment of skin diseases has caused severe bullous dermatitis leading sometimes to hypertrophic scars. The local effect of the latex on the conjunctiva is congestion, epiphora and local anaesthesia. The twigs are applied for the preparation of diuretics, stomach tonic and anti-diarrhoetics and for asthma. Also used in abortion, as an anthelmintic, for colic, cough, whooping cough, dysentery, headache, lice treatment, jaundice, sore gums and mouth, toothache, sterility, swellings and ulcers.

Soil improver: A source of green manure. The plant can help improve soil water conditions and also acts as a soil binder. Pollution control: C. procera is an ideal plant for monitoring sulphur dioxide emissions in the air. Other services: A suitable indicator of exhausted soil.

 

Holarrhena floribunda

 

Holarrhena floribunda is a shrub to medium sized tree, 4.5-15 m high. Leaves shining, mostly ovate-acuminate, or ovate-lanceolate, 5-18 cm long and 2-8 cm broad with 6-12 pairs of lateral nerves. Flowers white, scented and in almost umbel-like inflorescences; corolla-tube 5-9 mm long and lobes 3.5-8 mm and overlapping to the right. Anthers fertile to the base. Paired narrowly cylindrical fruiting follicles, 30-60 cm, with seeds having apical tufts of hair. Two varieties are recognized; var. floribunda with glabrous or almost glabrous leaves even when young and var. tomentella with densely pubescent leaves. The latter is common in the Sudan and Gambia. The generic epithet Holarrhena is derived from Greek meaning complete male, whereas the specific epithet refers to its prolific flowering trait.

 

Timber: Timber widely used to construct granaries or cribs in Benin. Its white wood is resistant to attack by Prostephanus truncatus. H. floribunda is considered the best for carving native stools. Latex or rubber: A rubber like product obtained from this plant is used to adulterate genuine rubber. Poison: Most members of the family Apocynaceae are poisonous, therefore H. floribunda material should be handled carefully especially for medicinal purposes. Medicine: Stem bark of H. floribunda is used in traditional medicine to treat malaria, dysentery, fever, female sterility, skin infections venereal diseases and snake bites. In Nigeria, convulsion, especially in children, is managed by traditional healers employing leaf extracts of H. floribunda. Fractions containing saponins, polar steroidal glycosides, steroidal glycosides and alkaloids exhibited some antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and antifungal activity against Candida albicans. The saponin fraction markedly inhibited growth of Aspergillus niger. Conessine, an alkaloid from stem and root bark of H. floribunda, has been used as an amoebicide antidysenteric and febrifuge.

Ornamental: It flowers prolifically and can therefore be an ideal ornamental tree.

Hevea brasiliensis or caoutchouc tree, hevea, para rubber tree, rubber, rubber wood
 

Hevea brasiliensis is a quick-growing tree, rarely exceeding 25 m in height in plantations, but wild trees of over 40 m have been recorded. Bole usually straight or tapered, branchless for 10 m or more, up to at least 50 cm in diameter, without buttresses; bark surface smooth, hoop marked, grey to pale brown, inner bark pale brown, with abundant white latex; crown conical, branches slender. Root system with a well-developed taproot and far-spreading laterals. Leaves alternate, palmate and each leaf with 3 leaflets. Leaflets elliptic petiolated, with a basal gland, pointed at the tip with lengths varying up to 45 cm; glabrous, with entire margin and pinnate venation. Inflorescence in the form of pyramidal-shaped axillary panicles produced simultaneously with new leaves and arranged in cymose form. Flowers small, greenish-white, dioecious, female flowers usually larger than the male ones. In the female flower, gynaecium composed of 3 united carpels forming a 3-lobed, 3-celled ovary with a single ovule in each cell. Seeds large, ovoid, slightly compressed, shiny, 2-3.5 x 1.5-3 cm, testa grey or pale brown with irregular dark brown dots, lines and blotches. The testa being derived from the female parent and the seed shape being determined by the pressures of the capsule, it is possible to identify the female parent of any seed by its markings and shape; this is the most reliable method of identifying clonal seed. Endosperm white in viable seeds, turning yellow in older seeds. Seeds weigh 2-4 g. The generic name is derived from a local word in the Amazon, ‘heve’ meaning rubber.

Food: Although poisonous, seeds of rubber can be eaten as a famine food after processing, which involves prolonged soaking or boiling to remove the cyanic poisons. Some of the denser wild stands of rubber in the Amazon are said to be due to artificial enrichment by indigenous peoples to increase food supply. Seeds contain 40-50% oil, which dries well and is suitable for use as food and for technical purposes. Fodder: Seeds are sometimes eaten off the ground by cattle. Press cake or extracted meal can be cautiously used as feed for stock. Apiculture: So much nectar is secreted by the extra-floral nectaries that rubber is an important source of honey. Fuel: Rubberwood was formerly regarded as a byproduct of the rubber plantations and used for the production of charcoal or as fuelwood, for brick making, tobacco drying and rubber drying. Fibre: Offcuts and other rubberwood residues have been used successfully in Malaysia for the production of particle board, wood-cement board, and medium-density fibreboard. Timber: Heartwood pale cream, often with a pink tinge when fresh, darkening on exposure to pale straw-coloured or pale brown, not clearly demarcated from the sapwood. Grain straight to shallowly interlocked. Texture moderately coarse but even; sawn rubberwood often shows black stripes with the inclusion of bark material, the result of poor tapping practices with damaged or removed cambium; in freshly sawn wood there is a characteristic and distinct smell of latex. The importance of the timber from the rubber plantations is now fully recognized, and in Southeast Asia it is planted solely for timber production. Most of the timber is used to manufacture furniture. Other uses include interior finish, moulding, e.g. for wall panelling, picture frames, drawer guides, cabinet and other handles, parquet flooring, many household utensils, blockboard cores, pallets, crates, coffins, veneer, and glue-laminated timber, e.g. for staircases and door and window components. Since the timber is only moderately durable when exposed to the elements, it should not be used for exterior purposes. Latex or rubber: Latex, the source of hevea or para rubber, is obtained by tapping the trunks of the trees. The latex coagulates with the aid of acetic acid, formic acid and alum. Cured rubber is used for all types of rubber products. Lipids: Seeds are the source of para rubber seed oil. Boiling removes the poison and releases the oil, which can be used for illumination. Kernels (50-60% of the seed) contain semi-drying pale yellow oil used in soap making, paints and varnishes. Poison: Kernel oil is effective against houseflies and lice. Other products: Rubberwood waste is an excellent medium for the growing of mushrooms, especially oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.). The mottled seeds of H. brasiliensis are still used for fish bait by rural folk along the Amazon River.

Soil improver: Press cake or extracted meal can be used as fertilizer. Intercropping: Intercropping with coffee or cocoa, perhaps in conjunction with ipecac, is possible. A fodder crop such as Cajanus might be tried for lac production instead of the usually recommended cover crops (e.g. Calopogonium, Centrosema, Flemingia, Psophocarpus, Pueraria). After a few years under legumes, no nitrogen fertilizer may be needed, but phosphorus, magnesium and potassium may be limiting in some areas.

Antiaris toxicaria or bark cloth tree, antiaris, false iroko, false mvule, upas tree

Antiaris toxicaria is a magnificent deciduous tree of the forest canopy, often 20- 40 m tall with a dome-shaped crown, drooping branchlets and hairy twigs. Large trees have clear boles and are butressed at the base. Bark smooth, pale gray, marked with lenticel dots and ring marks. When cut thin creamy latex drips out, becoming darker on exposure to air. Leaves variable, usually oval 5-16 cm x 4-11 cm, the upper half often widest to a blunt or pointed tip, the base unequal and rounded. Saplings and coppice shoots have long narrow leaves, the edge toothed- but rare in mature leaves. Mature leaves prominently veined. Leaves are rough, papery with stiff hairs above but softer below. Male flowers short-stalked, discoid head with many flowers, each flower with 2-7 tepals and 2-4 stamens, growing just below leaves. Female flowers in disc or kidney-shaped heads to 3 cm across. Ovary adnate to the perianth, 1-locular with a single ovule and 2 styles. Fruit bright red, ellipsoid, dull and furry, 1.5 cm long, the swollen receptacle contains just one seed. Some botanists have referred to all African specimens as the Asiatic species. However there appear to be 2 easily recognizable taxa in west Africa. Currently, A. toxicaria is regarded as a single species with 5 subspecies; subsp. toxicaria and macrophylla occur within the Malesian region. Other subspecies are africana, humbertii and welwitschii. The generic name is after the Malay plant name ‘antjar’, and the specific epithet comes from the Greek word ‘toxicon’-an arrow poison, alluding to its toxic properties.

 

Food: The fruit is edible. Fuel: The wood provides only marginal fuel. Timber: It yields a lightweight hardwood with a density of 250-540 kg /cu.m. There is little difference between the sap and heartwood; it is yellow-white and soft with moderate shrinkage upon seasoning. The wood has good peeling properties making it a good choice for veneer production. The timber is also used in construction of beer canoes. Wood treatment using boron, chromium, arsenic fluoride treated with 5 and 10% BFCA preservative by hot immersion (1, 2 or 3 h at 60-70 deg C) followed by cold immersion for 24 h was suitable. Rapid conversion and the application of anti stain chemicals upon felling are essential, as the wood is liable to sap-stain. The wood is easily attacked by termites and the marine-borer Limnoria tripunctata. Tannin or dyestuff: Bark has tannins and is employed in dyeing. Poison: Used with Strychnos ignatii, A. toxicaria latex is an important component in the manufacture of dart and arrow poisons whose active components are cardenolides and alkaloids (chemicals with cardiac arresting potential). The sawdust may cause skin irritation and stomach pain. Medicine: The leaves and root are used to treat mental illnesses. Seed, leaves and bark are used as an astringent and the seeds as an antidysenteric. Other products: From the bark a strong, coarse bark cloth is obtained.

Shade or shelter: Provides dense shade. Soil improver: Leaf litter enriches the soil. Intercropping: Has dense shade and may interfere with other crops. Other services: The bark is used to make rough clothing.

Albizia zygia

Albizia zygia is a deciduous tree 9-30 m tall with a spreading crown and a graceful architectural form. Bole tall and clear, 240 cm in diameter. Bark grey and smooth. Young branchlets densely to very sparsely clothed with minute crisped puberulence, usually soon disappearing but sometimes persistent. Leaves pinnate, pinnae in 2-3 pairs and broadening towards the apex, obliquely rhombic or obovate with the distal pair largest, apex obtuse, 29-72 by 16-43 mm, leaves are glabrous or nearly so. Flowers subsessile; pedicels and calyx puberulous, white or pink; staminal tube exserted for 10-18 mm beyond corolla. Fruit pod oblong, flat or somewhat transversely plicate, reddish-brown in colour, 10-18 cm by 2-4 cm glabrous or nearly so. The seeds of A. zygia are smaller (7.5-10 mm long and 6.5 to 8.5 mm wide) and flatter than either of the other Albizia, but have the characteristic round shape, with a slightly swollen center. The genus was named after Filippo del Albizzi, a Florentine nobleman who in 1749 introduced A. julibrissin into cultivation.

 

Food: The young leaves are cooked and consumed as a vegetable, especially in soups. Analysis of the seeds reveals a low crude protein content. Amino acids such as lysine, sulfur amino acids and threonine are limiting, indicating the limited nutritional value of A. zygia seeds. Fodder: The shoots and leaf are eaten by livestock. Apiculture: The nectariferous flowers attract bees. Fuel: Provides considerable amounts of charcoal in Ghana and fuelwood in other localities. Timber: Produces a class three timber with the trade name “Okuro”, this is a quality timber with a pale brown heartwood fairly easy to work, durable but not termite proof. Used in construction, making handles of farm implements, household utensils and furniture. A. zygia is a preferred species for wood carving in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Gum or resin: A viscous gum from A. zygia can be used as a stabilizer in ice-cream. Tannin or dyestuff: Bark has tannins. Medicine: Molluscicidal activity shown by leaf extracts of A. zygia.

Erosion control: With a fairly deep rooting system A. zygia has great potential to protect vulnerable soils. Shade or shelter: Provides shade for cacao trees in plantations. Reclamation: Has a high potential for ameliorating degraded cocoa soils. The species also exhibits characteristics of drought avoidance. Nitrogen fixing: A. zygia is confirmed as nodulating, Rhizobium-type root nodules were found on roots of mature specimens of A. zygia. Greenhouse and field experiments indicate the tree is also capable of symbiotic nitrogen fixation with Bradyrhizobium and forming vesicular arbiscular mycorrhiza. Soil improver: Provides mulch leaf litter and improves the pH in acidic soils. Ornamental: As an ornamental this showy tree can grace avenues and recreation sites. Boundary or barrier or support: Though termite vulnerable, the wood can be used for temporary structures or fencing. Intercropping: As an agroforestry tree, it is still untested but looks promising. In Ghana the tree is one of the most favoured cacao shade trees. Other services Provides shelter, shade and serves as a windbreak.

Alstonia boonei or alstonia, cheesewood, pattern wood, stool wood

Alstonia boonei is a large deciduous tree, up to 45 m tall and 1.2 m in diameter; bole often deeply fluted to 7 m, small buttresses present; bark greyish-green or grey, rough; slash rough-granular, ochre-yellow, exuding a copious milky latex; branches in whorls. Leaves in whorls of 5-8, simple, subsessile to petiolate, stipules absent; petiole 2-10 (max. 15) mm long, stout; blade oblanceolate to obovate, rarely elliptic, 7-26 x 3-9.3 cm; apex acute to rounded or sometimes emarginate; base narrowly cuneate; margins entire, sub-coriaceous to coriaceous, dark shiny green top surface, light green on under surface; midrib more prominent below. Inflorescence terminal, compound with 2-3 tiers of pseudo-umbels; primary peduncles 0.5-7 cm long, greyish pubescent; bracts ovate-triangular, 1-1.5 mm long, pubescent; pedicels about 5 mm long. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite, pentamerous; calyx cupular tube about 1 mm long; lobes ovate, about 1.5 mm long, spreading; corolla pale green tube up to 14 mm long; lobes slightly obliquely ovate, up to 6 mm long and wide, pubescent outside. Fruit formed by 2 pendent green follicles up to 60 cm long, longitudinally striate, dehiscing lengthways while on the tree; seeds numerous, flat, about 4 x 2 mm, with tufts of hair at each end 10 mm long. ‘Alstonia’ is named after Dr C. Alston (1685-1760), a professor of botany at Edinburgh University.

 

Fuel: This species provides firewood. Timber: The sapwood, which is not differentiated from the heartwood, is very wide, up to 200 mm, soft, and light in weight when dried. The wood weighs about 400 kg/cubic m. Nearly yellowish-white when freshly cut, the timber darkens on exposure. It has a low lustre and no characteristic odour or taste. The grain is generally straight, and the texture is fine to medium, but the appearance of the wood is often marred by latex canals (slitlike holes about 6 mm across), which often occur at regular intervals. The wood is also liable to staining. It works easily with hand and machine tools, but because of its softness, it is essential to use tools with sharp cutting edges. The wood can be glued, stained and polished satisfactorily. Export prospects are doubtful, although it has a local potential for stools, carvings, domestic utensils, toys, masks, canoes, horns, light carpentry, boxes and wood wool for packing bananas. The well-known Asante stools of Ghana are made from it. Latex or rubber: The latex gives an inferior resinous coagulate, which has been used to adulterate better rubbers. It has been used as birdlime. Poison: The latex is dangerous to the eyes and can cause blindness. Medicine: The bark of A. boonei contains echitamine (main alkaloid), 2 echitamidine derivatives and a lactone boonein. The triterpenes beta-amyrin and lupenol are also found in the bark, and ursolic acid in the leaves. The 2 alkaloids have diuretic, spasmolytic and hypotensive properties. An infusion in cold water of the stem bark is drunk as a cure for venereal diseases, worms, snakebite and rheumatic pains and to relax muscles. It is also taken internally or used as a bath as a remedy for dizziness. An infusion of root and stem bark is drunk as a remedy for asthma; a liquid made from the stem bark and fruit is drunk once daily to treat impotence. In Ghana, a decoction of the bark is given after childbirth to help the delivery of the placenta. It is used from Cote d’Ivoire through to Burkina Faso as a decoction to cleanse suppurating sores and exposed fractures; in Nigeria for sores and ulcers, and in Cameroon and Liberia for snakebite and arrow poison. The bark has widespread use in Ghana to assuage toothache; in Sierra Leone it is used as an anthelmintic. The latex is said to be an antidote for Strophanthus poison. In Cote d’Ivoire the leaves, pulped to a mash, are applied topically to reduce oedema, and leaf sap is used to cleanse sores.

Cordia Africana or East African cordia, large-leafed cordia, Sudan teak

Cordia africana is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree, 4-15 (30) m high, heavily branched with a spreading, umbrella-shaped or rounded crown. Bole typically curved or crooked. Bark greyish-brown to dark brown, smooth in young trees, but soon becoming rough and longitudinally fissured with age; young branchlets with sparse long hairs. Leaves alternate, simple, ovate to subcircular, 7.5-17.5 (max. 30) cm long, 3.5-10.2 (max. 30) cm broad; thinly leathery; dark green above, paler green and velvety below; with prominent parallel tertiary net-nerves (about 7 pairs of lateral nerves); apex broadly tapering or rounded; base rounded to shallowly lobed; margin entire; petiole slender, 2.5-7.6 cm long. Buds oval, stalkless, pleated open into flowers that are bisexual, white, sweet scented, shortly pedicelate or subsessile, massed in compact panicles covering the crown, with a white mass of attractive flowers; calyx less than 1 cm long, strongly ribbed, back of lobes covered with short, soft, brown hairs; corolla lobes crinkled, white, long-exerted, funnel-shaped, about 2.5 cm long; cymes many flowered. Fruit a drupe, smooth, spherical, oval tipped, fleshy, 1.3-1.5 cm long; green when young, yellow to orange when mature; with a sweet, mucilaginous pulp and short remains of the calyx at the base; contains 2-4 seeds, which lack endosperm. The generic name honours a 16th century German botanist, Valerius Cordus, and ‘africana’ simply means ‘from Africa’. The specific epithet of the synonym, ‘abyssinica’, implies that the plant was described from Ethiopia.

 

Food: Mature fruits have a sweet, mucilaginous, edible pulp. Fodder: Leaves provide fodder for the dry season. Apiculture: C. africana provides good bee forage, as the flowers yield plenty of nectar. Beehives are often placed in the trees. Fuel: Trees are a good source of firewood. Timber: The heartwood is pinkish-brown, reasonably durable, relatively termite resistant; it works easily and polishes well but is often twisted and difficult to saw. It is used for high-quality furniture, doors, windows, cabinet making, drums, beehives, joinery, interior construction, mortars, paneling and veneering. Medicine: The fresh, juicy bark is used to tie a broken bone; this splint is changed occasionally with a fresh one until the bone is healed.

Shade or shelter: C. africana is planted as a shade tree in coffee plantations; it is usually left in the fields, as it provides excellent shade for crops. Soil improver: Leaf fall in the dry season is heavy, and the leaves make good mulch. Ornamental: Trees are planted in amenity areas.

 

Milicia Excelsa

 

This is a high quality timber used as a Teak substitute. It is widely used for all kinds of construction work and carpentry including domestic flooring, veneer and cabinetwork (WCMC, 1991). The timber is used for building ships and barrels. It is used externally because it has great resistance to bad weather (Moreno Saiz, 1996). Locally, this species has many medicinal uses; the bark is also used as a dye (FAO, 1986b). The wood is also exploited by the local people (African Regional Workshop, 1996).

 

Milica excelsa is found in transitional vegetation between closed forests and savanna. It is often found in gallery forest and can be found in deciduous, semi-deciduous or evergreen forest. Occasionally it is found in isolated relict forests from sea level to about 1300m. It is fairly abundant in the drier areas of semi-deciduous Antiaris-Chlorophora forest (FAO, 1986b). Both M. excelsa and M. regia show a preference for dry, flat, light areas (Hawthorne, 1995a).

  

Nesogordonia papaverifera syn. Cisanthera papaverifera Danta

 

Slender, medium to tall tree with narrow buttresses, with small, dark (except when flushing), dense crown. Mostly evergreen, but Taylor records that it may be deciduous for a brief period in the dry season.

 

Uses: General construction, floors, joinery, turnery, boatbuilding, tool handles, gunstocks, plywood, utility crossarms, furniture. Considered a hickory substitute.

 

Black Pepper

 

Most black pepper comes from India, where it is known as the king of the spices; it is also exported from Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil. It has always been one of the most popular spices, and the successful sea voyages of U.S. importers of pepper and cloves made Salem, Massachusetts, one of the richest towns in the U.S.A. at the beginning of the 19th century.

 

Black pepper is available on most Western dining tables, but yellow pepper is preferred in cooking since it does not add dark color to foods.

 

Black pepper is obtained from the unripe green berries of the vine, which become black when they are dried in the sun. YELLOW (or WHITE) PEPPER is obtained from ripe red berries or by peeling off the pericarp from black peppercorns.

 

The main flavor is from piperine, but other essential oils, including terpenes, contribute to the aroma. Its alkaloids include the pungent tasting chavicine and piperidine.

 

“Black pepper is an aromatic carminative stimulant; and is also supposed to possess febrifuge properties. Its action as a stimulant is more especially evident on the mucous membranes of the rectum and urinary organs.”

 

Ceiba Penandra or cotton silk tree, cotton tree, kapok tree, true kapok, white silk cotton tree

 

Ceiba pentandra is a tall, deciduous tree bearing short, sharp prickles all along the trunk and branches; supported by pronounced buttresses at the base. It has a light crown and is leafless for a long period. The leaf is glabrous and digitate, being composed of 5, 7 or 9 leaflets. Leaves are alternate with slender green petioles. There are usually 5 leaflets in a mature form. The leaflets hang down on short stalks; short pointed at the base and apex, not toothed on edges, thin, bright to dark green above and dull green beneath. Great quantities of flowers are in lateral clusters near the ends of the twigs. Calyx cup-shaped, with 5-10 shallow teeth. Petals 5, white to rose coloured; brown, silky, densely hairy on the outer surface; stamens 5, longer than petals, united into a column at the base. Pistil a 5-celled ovary with a long style curved near the apex and an enlarged stigma. Fruit a leathery, ellipsoid, pendulous capsule, 10-30 cm long, usually tapering at both ends, rarely dehiscing on the tree. White, pale yellow or grey floss originates from the inside wall of the fruit. Seed capsules split open along 5 lines. Each capsule releases 120-175 seeds rounded black seeds embedded in a mass of grey woolly hairs. Seeds dark brown. The generic name comes from a local South American word. The specific name, ‘pentandra’, is Latin for ‘five-stemmed’; from the Greek word ‘penta’ (five) and ‘andron’ (male).

In many places the straight trunks of the kapok tree are used to make dugout canoes. The white, fluffy seed covering is used in pillows and mattresses. Since it is buoyant and water resistant it is often used in flotation devices and padding. The seeds, leaves, bark and resin have been used to treat dysentery, fever, asthma, and kidney disease. In Mayan myths the kapok tree was sacred. They believed that the souls of the dead would climb up into the branches which reached into heaven.

 

The kapok tree is widely spread around the world and occupies an important niche in the ecosystem of a rainforest. Emergent trees like the kapok rise above the canopy of the rainforest and provide a home for plants dependent on sunlight. Their branches provide a habitat for countless epiphytes, which provide food and shelter for many types or animals. They allow animals to move around the rainforest without coming down to the ground. Monkeys who venture out to the tops of emergent trees are easy prey for eagles.

 

Its timber is desirable because of the great length of its trunks, the beautiful color of its wood, and its straight grain. People of the rainforest have many uses for the kapok tree.

Courtesy of The Agroforestree (AFT) Database http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea/Products/AFDbases/AF/index.asp