Khaya anthotheca

Last updated

Khaya anthotheca
Khaya anthotheca.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Meliaceae
Genus: Khaya
Species:
K. anthotheca
Binomial name
Khaya anthotheca
Synonyms
  • Khaya nyasicaStapf ex Baker f. (1911) [2]

Khaya anthotheca, with the common name East African mahogany, is a large tree species in the Meliaceae family, native to tropical Africa.

Contents

The name anthotheca was taken from the Greek word anthos, meaning flower, while theca refers to a capsule. It is known by a number of other common names, including Nyasaland, red or white mahogany. Oos-Afrikaanse mahonie is the Afrikaans name and acajou is its name in French.

Distribution

It is widespread, occurring from Guinea Bissau east to Uganda and Tanzania, and south to Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It is fairly widely grown in plantations within its natural area of distribution, but also in South Africa, tropical Asia and tropical America. It is easily confused with other Khaya species like K. grandifoliola , K. senegalensis or K. ivorensis in the north of its natural range.

Habitat

The East African mahogany grows in medium to low altitude areas in evergreen forests. They require damp lands in order to grow. The Big Tree in Chirinda Forest is the tallest native tree in Zimbabwe.

Description

Khaya anthotheca trees may grow between 30 and 60 metres (98 and 197 ft) tall. They have greyish-brown bark.

On mature trees, white scented flowers are borne at the ends of the branches.

Common uses

It is used for furniture, flooring, paneling and boat building and for musical instrument (e.g. guitar). It is a very suitable tree for these projects because the bark weathers well, is resistant to borers and termites, besides fungal decay, and is tough but saws well. The bark has a bitter taste which is often used as a medicine for common colds. The oil from the seeds can also be rubbed into a person's scalp to rid of insects and lice.

Threats

It is often cut down and destroyed in East and West Africa. Planting new trees in these areas to make up for what was destroyed is very rare. Genetic erosion is thought to have occurred as well. Because of this, the species is listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List. Some of its populations have been offered protection, and some countries placed bans on its export. The foliage is eaten by the larvae of the moth Heteronygmia dissimilis . [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sapele</span> Species of tree

Entandrophragma cylindricum is a tree of the genus Entandrophragma of the family Meliaceae. It is commonly known as sapele or sapelli or sapele mahogany, as well as aboudikro, assi, and muyovu.

<i>Khaya</i> Genus of trees

Khaya is a genus of five tree species in the mahogany family Meliaceae. The timber of Khaya is called African mahogany, and is valued as a substitute to American mahogany.

<i>Pterocarpus angolensis</i> Species of legume

Pterocarpus angolensis is a species of Pterocarpus native to southern Africa, in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. It is a protected tree in South Africa. The name Kiaat, although Afrikaans, is sometimes used outside South Africa as well. In Zimbabwe, depending on what region you are in, it is known as Mukwa or Mubvamaropa.

<i>Schotia brachypetala</i> Species of legume

Schotia brachypetala, the weeping boer-bean, is a leguminous flowering tree in the family Fabaceae and the subfamily Detarioideae. The woodland tree is native to Africa south of the Zambezi River, where it occurs at middle altitudes. It is well-suited as shade or ornamental tree in warmer regions, and is consequently widely cultivated in gardens and parks. It is named for the copious nectar that drips from its flowers, which attracts various species of birds and insects. It is known by various other names, including tree fuchsia, African greenheart and African walnut.

<i>Eucalyptus botryoides</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus botryoides, commonly known as the bangalay, bastard jarrah, woollybutt or southern mahogany, is a small to tall tree native to southeastern Australia. Reaching up to 40 metres high, it has rough bark on its trunk and branches. It is found on sandstone- or shale-based soils in open woodland, or on more sandy soils behind sand dunes. The white flowers appear in summer and autumn. It reproduces by resprouting from its woody lignotuber or epicormic buds after bushfire. E. botryoides hybridises with the Sydney blue gum in the Sydney region. The hard, durable wood has been used for panelling and flooring.

<i>Afzelia africana</i> Species of legume

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

<i>Aglaia argentea</i> Species of flowering plant

Aglaia argentea is a species of plant in the family Meliaceae. It is a tree found in Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, and Thailand.

Khaya grandifoliola, also called African mahogany, Benin mahogany, large-leaved mahogany, or Senegal mahogany, is a species of plant in the family Meliaceae. It is found in Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Khaya ivorensis</i> Species of tree found in Africa

Khaya ivorensis, also called African mahogany or Lagos mahogany, is a tall forest tree with a buttressed trunk in the family Meliaceae. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria where it grows primarily in lowland tropical rainforests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Khaya senegalensis</i> Species of tree

Khaya senegalensis is a species of tree in the Meliaceae family that is native to Africa. Common names include African mahogany, dry zone mahogany, Gambia mahogany, khaya wood, Senegal mahogany, cailcedrat, acajou, djalla, and bois rouge.

Pierreodendron kerstingii is a species of tree in the family Simaroubaceae. It is endemic to West Africa and found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, and Benin. It is sometimes considered synonym of Pierreodendron africanum, which would then be a widespread species distributed south to Angola and east to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

<i>Eucalyptus resinifera</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus resinifera, commonly known as red mahogany or red messmate, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree endemic to coastal areas of eastern Australia. It has rough, stringy or fibrous bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between seven and eleven, white flowers and hemispherical, conical or cup-shaped fruit.

<i>Celtis mildbraedii</i> Species of flowering plant

Celtis mildbraedii is a species of forest tree in the family Cannabaceae. It was previously assigned to the family Ulmaceae. These trees grow in limited areas of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. They are also found in forested areas from West Africa to Sudan, DRC, Angola and Tanzania. Common names include natal white stinkwood, red-fruited white-stinkwood and natal elm. This species is more common in Tropical Africa than in Southern Africa.

<i>Xylocarpus granatum</i> Species of mangrove in the mahogany family

Xylocarpus granatum, commonly known as the cannonball mangrove, cedar mangrove, or puzzlenut tree, is a species of mangrove in the mahogany family (Meliaceae). It is found in Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific Islands. It is a common species of mangrove, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".

White mahogany is a common name for several trees and may refer to:

<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.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Basin forest–savanna mosaic</span>

The Victoria Basin forest–grassland mosaic is an ecoregion that lies mostly in Uganda and extends into neighboring countries. The ecoregion is centered north and west of Lake Victoria, with an outlier on the border of Ethiopia and South Sudan.

Parkia bicolor, the African locust-bean, is a species of flowering plant, a tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to tropical West and Central Africa. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forests, swampland, woodland and savannah.

<i>Mansonia altissima</i> Species of plant

Mansonia altissima is a species of tree native to western and Central Africa. It has the vernacular names of; African black walnut or African walnut.

References

  1. Hawthorne, W. (1998). "Khaya anthotheca". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 1998: e.T32235A9690061. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T32235A9690061.en . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. Maroyi, A. (2008). "Khaya anthotheca (Welw.) C.DC". Prota 7 (1): Timbers/Bois d’œuvre 1. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  3. Capinera, John L. (2008). Encyclopedia of Entomology. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 68–70. ISBN   978-1-4020-6242-1.