Afromorus

Last updated

Afromorus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Afromorus
E.M.Gardner
Species:
A. mesozygia
Binomial name
Afromorus mesozygia
(Stapf) E.M.Gardner 2021
Synonyms
  • Morus mesozygiaStapf 1909

Afromorus mesozygia, known as black mulberry or African mulberry, is the only species in the genus Afromorus. The plant is a small- to medium-sized forest tree of Tropical Africa. Its leaves and fruit provide food for the mantled guereza, a colobus monkey native to much of Tropical Africa, [1] and for the common chimpanzee of West and Central Africa. It is also a commercial hardwood.

Contents

The trees can be found in Ngogo in Kibale National Park in Uganda, where they are a food source for chimpanzees. [2]

Description

Afromorus mesozygia is a dioecuous tree that can grow up to 35 m tall, the bark is smooth, greyish in color with irregular white patches. [3] The slash is yellow exuding a white latex. Leaves are distichous, the stipules are caducous and up to 10 mm long. [3] [4] Surface of leaflets has a leathery or papery look, the leaflets are elliptical to broadly ovate in shape and tend to be between 3-13 cm long and 2-8 cm wide with a margin that is serrate to crenate. The apex is acuminate to acute and base is cordate. [3]

Inflorescence is an axillary spike and the fruit is drupe like.

Distribution and habitat

Occurs in Tropical Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia and southwards to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Found in rain and deciduous forests. [3]

Uses

The species is sometimes cultivated as a shade tree or for ornamental purposes. Leaves and stem bark extracts are used in decoctions for pain management. [5]

The fruit is edible and eaten in various communities and the foliage are fodder for animals.

Wood obtained from the species is used for carpentry work and also gathered for use as firewood.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paper mulberry</span> Species of plant

The paper mulberry is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae. It is native to Asia, where its range includes Taiwan, mainland China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Myanmar, and India. It is widely cultivated elsewhere and it grows as an introduced species in New Zealand, parts of Europe, the United States, and Africa. Other common names include tapa cloth tree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mantled guereza</span> Species of mammal

The mantled guereza, also known simply as the guereza, the eastern black-and-white colobus, or the Abyssinian black-and-white colobus, is a black-and-white colobus, a type of Old World monkey. It is native to much of west central and east Africa, including Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Chad. The species consists of several subspecies that differ in appearance. It has a distinctive appearance, which is alluded to in its name; the long white fringes of hair that run along each side of its black trunk are known as a mantle. Its face is framed with white hair and it has a large white tail tuft.

<i>Parinari excelsa</i> Species of tree

Parinari excelsa, the Guinea plum, is a species of large, evergreen tree in the family Chrysobalanaceae. It has a very wide distribution in tropical Africa and the Americas. This species grows to 50 m (160 ft) tall while the trunk is up to 1.5 m (5 ft) in diameter.

<i>Strombosia pustulata</i> Species of rainforest tree in West and Central Africa

Strombosia pustulata is a species of tree in the family Olacaceae. It is native to the rainforests of tropical West and Central Africa. Common names for this tree include itako in Nigeria, afina in Ghana, poé in Abé spoken in Côte d'Ivoire and mba esogo in Equatorial Guinea.

Erythrophleum ivorense is a species of leguminous tree in the genus Erythrophleum found in the rainforests of tropical West and Central Africa. The tree has many uses; the timber is used for heavy construction, for making charcoal and for firewood, the bark is used for tanning and in traditional medicine, and both bark and seeds are poisonous and used for hunting.

<i>Lannea welwitschii</i> Species of tree

Lannea welwitschii is a species of tree in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to the tropical rainforests of West and Central Africa. The timber is used to make furniture and utensils and for many other purposes, the fruits can be eaten, and the bark is used to produce a dye, for making rope and in traditional medicine.

<i>Lophira lanceolata</i> Species of tree

Lophira lanceolata, commonly known as the dwarf red ironwood, is a species of tree in the family Ochnaceae which is native to tropical West and Central Africa. The timber is used for heavy construction, an edible oil can be extracted from the seeds and various parts of the plant are used in traditional medicine.

Daniellia oliveri is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to tropical West and Central Africa and is commonly known as the African copaiba balsam tree, or the West African copal tree.

<i>Gilbertiodendron dewevrei</i> Species of legume

Gilbertiodendron dewevrei is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae, native to tropical rain forests in Central Africa. It is often the dominant tree species of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest. The timber is traded as limbali, and is used for construction, flooring and railway sleepers. It is also used for making boats, furniture, tool handles and joinery and for making charcoal.

<i>Brachystegia laurentii</i> Species of legume

Brachystegia laurentii, a plant in the family Fabaceae, is a species of large tree found in western Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. It has a dense, umbrella-shaped crown. The wood is known as bomanga and has many uses in building and construction.

Drypetes gerrardii is a species of small tree or large shrub in the family Putranjivaceae. Common names include forest ironplum, bastard white ironwood, and forest ironwood. It is native to tropical and subtropical central and eastern Africa. It was first described in 1920 by the English botanist John Hutchinson, who named it after the English botanist William Tyrer Gerrard who collected plants and seeds in southern Africa in the 1860s.

Guibourtia tessmannii is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae. It is a medium to large-sized tree and is native to Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The timber has an attractive appearance and has many uses, and the bark is used in traditional medicine.

<i>Aganope stuhlmannii</i>

Aganope stuhlmannii is a deciduous tree within the family Fabaceae. It is native to tropical Africa and grows in savanna woodlands.

Cynometra ananta is a perennial large tree within the Fabaceae family. Its timber is traded under the name Apome in Ivory Coast and Ananta in Ghana.

Anthonotha macrophylla is a shrub to small understory tree within the Fabaceae family. It is endemic to the rain forest regions of West Africa and it is the most common of species within the Anthonotha genus in Africa.

<i>Berlinia grandiflora</i> Species of plant

Berlinia grandiflora is a small to medium sized tree found in the West and West Central African region along riparian habitats or gallery forests habitat types.

Entandrophragma angolense, called the tiama, is a tree species with alternate, pinnately compound leaves that are clustered at the ends of branches. It is within the family Meliaceae and has a wide distribution area, occurring in moist semi-deciduous and evergreen forest regions of Tropical Africa from Sierra Leone to Uganda.

Ficus vogeliana is a species within the family Moraceae which bears flagellifom infructescences. Its outer bark tends to be greyish in color while the slash is reddish.

<i>Ficus vallis-choudae</i> Species of flowering plant

Ficus vallis-choudae is a shrub or small to medium sized sized tree within the family Moraceae, in the genus Ficus and sub-genus, Sycomorus.

<i>Ficus laurifolia</i> Species of flowering plants

Ficus laurifolia is an hemi-epiphytic species that sometimes grows as a shrub or liana or as a tree, the species is within the family Moraceae.

References

  1. Fashing, Peter J. (2001). "Feeding Ecology of Guerezas in the Kakamega Forest, Kenya: The Importance of Moraceae Fruit in Their Diet". International Journal of Primatology. 22 (4): 579–609. doi:10.1023/A:1010737601922. S2CID   22693241.
  2. Roach, John (2017-09-29). "Chimp Gangs Kill to Expand Territory". National Geographic . Archived from the original on 2017-09-29. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Berg, Cornelis C.; Hijman, Maria E. E. (1989). Moraceae. Flora of tropical East Africa / prepared at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew with assistance from the East African Herbarium. Ed.: R. M. Polhill. Rotterdam: Balkema [u.a.] ISBN   978-90-6191-350-4.
  4. Louppe, Dominique, ed. (2008). Plant resources of tropical Africa. 7,1: Timbers: 1 / ed.: D. Louppe; A. A. Oteng-Amoako. General ed.: R. H. M. J. Lemmens. Weikersheim: Margraf. ISBN   978-3-8236-1542-2.
  5. Lemmens, Rudolphe (2023-08-02). Useful Trees of East Africa: Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania. BoD - Books on Demand. p. 9. ISBN   978-2-322-54633-6.