Common Name:

General Information

Albizia antunesiana is a deciduous tree with a flattened, umbrella-shaped crown; usually growing up to 18 metres tall, but occasionally up to 25 metres. The bole is usually short and branchless for up to 5 metres but sometimes up to 12 metres; it can be straight or twisted, and is up to 75cm in diameter[].
The tree is harvested from the wild for mainly local use as a source of medicines, food, wood and tannins.

Known Hazards

The sawdust can cause irritation to the noses and throats of sawmill workers[].

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Rwanda, Tanzania, Angola, southern DR Congo, Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, northern S. Africa.

Habitat

Deciduous woodland and wooded grassland, usually at elevations from 900 - 1,700 metres but sometimes descending to 250 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Tree
Height	15.00 m
Pollinators	Bees
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Prefers a sunny position and a loamy soil[].
Trees can be coppiced and pollarded[].
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria; these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[].

Edible Uses

Young leaves - cooked with groundnuts, soda, tomato, onion and oil and then eaten as a vegetable[].

Medicinal

The roots have numerous uses in traditional medicine. An infusion or decoction is used to treat sore throat, tonsillitis, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea and other sexually transmitted diseases, abdominal pains, depressed fontanelle in infants and infertility in women[]. They are used as an aphrodisiac and also to prevent abortion[].
The roots are applied externally to treat sore eyes, cuts, ulcers, pneumonia, painful and swollen legs[].

A bark infusion is taken to treat constipation[].
An infusion of the bark is applied externally to treat cuts,[].

The crushed leaves are used as an enema for their purgative action, and are applied as a dressing to treat oedema of the legs[].

The roots have shown significant in-vitro activities against the tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta ('rat tapeworm') and the trematode Schistosoma mansoni, the causal agent of schistosomiasis[].

Other Uses

The bark is a source of tannins[].

The heartwood varies from pale brown to purplish brown, sometimes darker striped; it is not distinctly demarcated from the up to 65mm wide layer of whitish sapwood. The grain is irregularly interlocked, texture moderately coarse.
The wood is moderately heavy; it saws and works well, but blunts tools rather rapidly. Surfaces may tear because of interlocked grain; a cutting angle of 10° is recommended for planing and low speeds are needed in moulding. The wood may split upon nailing. It does not turn well, but mortises, peels and slices satisfactorily. The wood is considered durable and resistant to termites[]. It is used for heavy construction, joinery, furniture, boat building, plywood, drums and implements. It is one of the woods preferred by the woodcarving industry in southern Zimbabwe. The wood is also suitable for cabinet work, interior trim and railway sleepers[].
The wood is used for fuel[].

Propagation

Seed - it has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing to speed up germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing.

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