| Okoubaka aubrevillei | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Santalales |
| Family: | Santalaceae |
| Genus: | Okoubaka |
| Species: | O. aubrevillei |
| Binomial name | |
| Okoubaka aubrevillei Pellegr. & Normand | |
Okoubaka aubrevillei (known as okoubaka tree from "oku baku" in Anyin) is a rare tropical tree species distributed throughout tropical rainforests of West and Central Africa that is thought to be the largest known parasitic plant.
The name "okoubaku" derives from the Anyin (a language mostly spoken by peoples in Côte d'Ivoire) term oku baku meaning "a tree that causes the death of surrounding vegetation", or "a tree with allelopathic properties", or simply "death tree".[ citation needed ]
The okoubaka tree is considered a trophophyte, meaning it is adapted to an environment that alternates between periods of heavy rainfall and droughts. It is deciduous meaning it sheds its leaves seasonally, and monoecious, meaning it contains both male and female reproductive flower parts.
It is a tree that can reach 40 meters in height with a trunk that can reach 3 meters in width. The tree forms a large bushy crown and has a straight and cylindrical bole (trunk). Its bark is coarse and usually reddish-brown. The tree development fits the Mangenot architectural model.[ citation needed ]
The okoubaka tree is a hemiparasite meaning it is parasitic under natural conditions but is photosynthetic to some degree. It is known to parasitize tiama (Entandrophragma angolense from the mahogany family), African teak (Pericopsis elata from the legume family), Pterygota macrocarpa (from the mallow family), and baku (Tieghemella heckelii from Sapotaceae ) with P. macrocarpa and African teak being reported as most affected.[ citation needed ]
Seed mass is large and so seed dispersal has been hypothesized to depend on large forest animals such as elephants.[ citation needed ]
The tree is thought to be useful for various folk medicinal purposes in all of its native ranges (mostly the seeds and bark).[ citation needed ] In Nigeria, the stem bark is used for the production of Maloff-HB, an anti-malarial drug.[ citation needed ] There is no scientific evidence that it has any medicinal properties.
Cycads are seed plants with a very long fossil history that were formerly more abundant and more diverse than they are today. They typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, therefore the individual plants of a species are either male or female. Cycads vary in size from having trunks only a few centimeters to several meters tall. They typically grow very slowly and live very long, with some specimens known to be as much as 1,000 years old. Because of their superficial resemblance, they are sometimes mistaken for palms or ferns, but they are not closely related to either group.
Teak is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. Tectona grandis has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicles) at the end of the branches. These flowers contain both types of reproductive organs. The large, papery leaves of teak trees are often hairy on the lower surface. Teak wood has a leather-like smell when it is freshly milled and is particularly valued for its durability and water resistance. The wood is used for boat building, exterior construction, veneer, furniture, carving, turnings, and other small wood projects.
Quercus macrocarpa, the bur oak, commonly spelled burr oak, is a species of oak tree native to eastern North America. It is in the white oak section, Quercus sect. Quercus, and is also called mossycup oak, mossycup white oak, blue oak, or scrub oak. The acorns are the largest of any North American oak, and are important food for wildlife.
Cussonia spicata, known as spiked cabbage tree, lowveld cabbage tree or common cabbage tree, is a tree in the family Araliaceae, which is native to the moister regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is cultivated as a garden plant in areas without extreme degrees of frost. It is one of the favorite foods of wild elephants.
A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirement from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants have modified roots, called haustoria, which penetrate the host plant, connecting them to the conductive system – either the xylem, the phloem, or both. For example, plants like Striga or Rhinanthus connect only to the xylem, via xylem bridges (xylem-feeding). Alternately, plants like Cuscuta and Orobanche connect only to the phloem of the host (phloem-feeding). This provides them with the ability to extract water and nutrients from the host. Parasitic plants are classified depending as to the location where the parasitic plant latches onto the host and the amount of nutrients it requires. Some parasitic plants are able to locate their host plants by detecting chemicals in the air or soil given off by host shoots or roots, respectively. About 4,500 species of parasitic plant in approximately 20 families of flowering plants are known.
Bursera simaruba, commonly known as gumbo-limbo, copperwood, chaca, naked Indian and turpentine tree, is a tree species in the family Burseraceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas from South Florida to Mexico and the Caribbean to Brazil, Jinotega and Venezuela. Bursera simaruba is prevalent in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion of the Yucatán, where it is a subdominant plant species to mangroves.
Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil is a mimosa-like timber tree native to Caatinga and Cerrado vegetation in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru. It has also been introduced to Mauritius. It grows up to 25 m (82 ft) tall, with a trunk diameter of 60–90 cm (24–35 in). The tree's mimosa-like leaves range in length from about 7–20 cm (2.8–7.9 in). The flowers are cream-colored and arrive in the spring. The seed pods are fairly straight and contain about 8 to 15 seeds each. The seeds are flat, average each about 1.5 cm (0.59 in) in diameter and have an average mass of about 0.125 g (0.0044 oz) each. The tree's wood has a density of about 840 kg/m3 (1,420 lb/cu yd).
Voacanga africana is a small tree native to tropical Africa belonging to the family Apocynaceae that grows to 6 m (20 ft) in height and bears leaves that are up to 30 cm (12 in) in length. The yellow or white flowers are succeeded by paired, follicular, dehiscent fruit with a mottled green exocarp and a pulpy, yellow mesocarp surrounding the seeds. The plant contains alkaloids acting as CNS depressants and hypotensives
Dacryodes edulis is a fruit tree native to Africa, sometimes called safou (Cameroon), atanga, ube (Nigeria), African pear, bush pear, African plum, nsafu, bush butter tree, or butterfruit.
Pericopsis elata is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is known by the common names African teak, afromosia, afrormosia, kokrodua and assamela.
Antiaris toxicaria is a tree in the mulberry and fig family, Moraceae. It is the only species currently recognized in the genus Antiaris. The genus Antiaris was at one time considered to consist of several species, but is now regarded as just one variable species which can be further divided into five subspecies. One significant difference within the species is that the size of the fruit increases as you travel from Africa to Polynesia. Antiaris has a remarkably wide distribution in tropical regions, occurring in Australia, tropical Asia, tropical Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, Tonga, and various other tropical islands. Its seeds are spread by various birds and bats, and it is not clear how many of the populations are essentially invasive. The species is of interest as a source of wood, bark cloth, and pharmacological or toxic substances.
Okoubaka is a genus of tall forest tree native to west and central tropical Africa. It consists of two species, plus a third species or variety. Its name is from the Anyin language meaning a tree with allelopathic properties, or a tree that causes the death of surrounding vegetation. The tree was once common throughout West Africa and parts of Central Africa, with O. aubrevillei being the primary West African species, and O. michelsonii found in Central Africa.
Oroxylum indicum is a species of flowering plant belonging to the monotypic genus Oroxylum and the family Bignoniaceae, and is commonly called midnight horror, oroxylum, Indian trumpet flower, broken bones, Indian caper, or tree of Damocles. It can reach a height of 18 metres (59 ft). Various segments of the tree are used in traditional medicine.
Pycnanthus angolensis is a species of tree in the nutmeg family, Myristicaceae. It is native to Tropical Africa. Its English language common names include African nutmeg, false nutmeg, boxboard, and cardboard. In Africa it is widely known as ilomba.
Omphalocarpum elatum Miers is a tall, tropical African tree belonging to the family Sapotaceae, remarkable for the large fruits growing directly from the trunk, and in many ways resembling the Lecythidaceae genus Napoleonaea. It is found in Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana, the Central African Republic, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Angola in the south. The fruits are favoured by elephants, the only animals able to break through the hard shell. They do this by skewering the fruit with a tusk while using their trunk to brace it against the ground. Having passed through the elephant's digestive tract, seeds germinate more readily. Although not yet endangered, the tree's life cycle is tied to that of forest elephants, and may become threatened in regions where elephant populations are under pressure.
Cola nitida is a species of plant belonging to the family Malvaceae.
Ailanthus excelsa, commonly known as tree of heaven, is a large deciduous tree found in India and Sri Lanka. In Tamil, it is also known as Pi-Nari Maram due to its disagreeable odor. The trees are grown along the edges of fields and rivers to mark boundaries and prevent soil erosion.
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.
Parkia bicolor, the African locust-bean, is a species of flowering plant, a tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is native to tropical West and Central Africa. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forests, swampland, woodland and savannah.
Litsea garciae, also known as engkala, kalangkala, kangkala, medang, pangalaban, ta'ang, malai, wuru lilin, kelimah, bua talal, kelime, kelimie, bua' vengolobon, wi lahal, kelima, mali, beva' mali, kayu mali, malei, pengalaban, pengolaban, kupa, pipi, bagnolo, lan yu mu jiang zi, lan yu mu, buah tebuluh, tebulus, pong labon, and Borneo avocado, is a flowering tree in the family Lauraceae.
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