Common Name:

General Information

Cleistopholis patens is a tree, usually growing 7.5 - 20 metres tall but exceptionally to 30 metres[].The straight bole is slender and cylindrical, unbranched for up to 10 metres and around 20 - 90cm in diameter[].
The tree is harvested from the wild mainly for its timber, fibre and medicinal uses. It has potential for use as a pioneer to restore woodland.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Sierra Leone to Uganda, south to Angola.

Habitat

Common in disturbed forest areas, rapidly colonizing abandoned areas, at elevations up to 1,110 metres[, ].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	18.00 m
Growth Rate	Fast
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a sunny position[].
The tree can grow very rapidly - seven year old specimens in Sierra Leone were 13 metres tall with a diameter of over 20cm[].

Edible Uses

The leaves are chewed with kola[].

The bark and sap-wood are turgid with sap. The bark is said to yield water when cut[]. The sap is reddish and looks like palm-oil and has a salty taste[].

Medicinal

The leaves are febrifuge and vermifuge[]. An infusion is used in the treatment of fevers[]. The infusion is sometimes combined with lemon grass (Cymbopogon spp.), papaya (Carica papaya) or other plants and used in the treatment of infective hepatitis[]. A decoction of the leaves is drunk and also used as a wash in the treatment of sleeping sickness[].

The sap is reddish and looks like palm-oil, it has a salty taste[]. The sap from the pounded bark, or a bark-decoction, is drunk as a treatment for tuberculosis and simple bronchial affections[]. The bark is steeped in cold water and taken as a purgative and to sooth colic[].
The pulp from the crushed bark, combined with pieces of Costus stem, is applied as a poultice on whitlows and oedemas332].
A bark-decoction is drunk, used in washes, vapour-baths and topical friction as a treatment for hunchbacks and rachitic children[]. The bark sap is used as a nasal instillation for treating headaches[].

The widespread use of the bark and leaves in local medicine merits investigation for the presence of active substances. However, bark tested for action on avian malaria showed no activity[].

Agroforestry Uses:

A natural pioneer species within its native range, where it is common in disturbed forests, and rapidly colonizes abandoned areas[]. It is almost certainly suitable for use as a pioneer species when establishing woodland[].

Other Uses

The bark is very fibrous and peels readily from the wood. The inner-bark yields a lace-like material which is remarkably strong, and is made into matting onto which cacao beans are spread for drying[]. Cordage and matting are made from the bark throughout the tree’s distribution. It is used for the brow-bands and shoulder-straps used by local people when carrying palm hampers[]. The bark is sometimes used to make hut-walls, partitions and sandals. The slash emits a strong spicy scent[].

The seeds are used as beads[].

The light-coloured timber is a bit woolly-textured, straight-grained, soft, light, not durable[]. It can be easily cut and finished smoothly. Both sap- and heart-wood have a sheen. The wood generally has properties similar to those of balsa (Ochroma sp.) and it should be suitable for the same purposes[]. Tree trunks are used to float heavy timber down rivers. The wood has been used as floats, to make drums, canoes and roof-beams, and is said to be suitable for joinery[]. At the present time there appears to be no commercial use for the timber, though it may be of value as plywood[]. Its capacity for very rapid growth might lend it to exploitation for pulp or cellulose production[].

Propagation

Seed -

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