Common Name:

General Information

Dacryodes buettneri is an evergreen tree with a much-branched, hemispherical crown; usually growing 15 - 25 metres tall, though trees up to 50 metres have been recorded. The cylindrical bole has small buttresses and is branchless for up to 20 metres, though it is rarely quite straight; it can be 80 - 150cm in diameter[]. Trees can be deciduous in some areas of its range[].
An important food source in west Africa, the tree is commonly harvested from the wild for local use as a food and source of medicines and wood. The wood is of good quality and is often harvested commercially and exported. The tree is occasionally cultivated in home gardens and its edible fruits are sometimes sold in local markets[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

West tropical Africa - Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo.

Habitat

Old secondary forests; old clearings (heliophilous); on well-drained soils at elevations up to 670 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	25.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the moist, lowland tropics where it can be found at elevations up to 700 metres. It is found in areas where the mean annual rainfall is within the range 2,000 - 3,000mm[].
Young seedlings can tolerate quite dense shade, but most will not survive very long unless more light becomes available. Older plants prefer a sunny position[]. Prefers well-drained soils[]. Found mainly on clayey soils in the wild[].
In mixed plantings with other species in Ekouk (Gabon), the survival rate was 30 - 70% after 3 years, without much mortality afterwards. When 10 years old, the trees had an average bole diameter of 8 - 9cm. Although they were in good health, all trees had a sinuous bole. In Lopé (Gabon) the annual increase in bole diameter was 4.5mm in dense forest and 6.8mm in more open Marantaceae forest[].
The trees fruit massively approximately every 3 years; fruit abortion is common[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - cooked[]. The oil-rich pulp is consumed after soaking the fruit in boiling water for about one minute[]. The fruits resemble those of the butter fruit tree (Dacryodes edulis), but they are smaller[].

Medicinal

The powdered bark is used for the treatment of burns[].

The resin is applied to abscesses, and it is used as a disinfectant and astringent[].

Distillation of the resin yielded 6.7% essential oil, with the main components being terpinen-4-ol (27%), p-cymene (19%) and alpha-pinene (13%). The essential oil showed in-vitro antioxidant activity and antibacterial activity against a range of bacteria[].
The main components in the essential oil of the fruit are alpha-pinene (29%) and limonene (23%).[]

Other Uses

When cut, the inner bark slowly exudes a translucent resin with a terebinth-like odour. It is used medicinally[].

The heartwood is pinkish white to grey-cream; it is not distinctly demarcated from the 5 - 9cm wide band of sapwood. The grain may be interlocked, crossed or straight; the texture is rather coarse; the wood contains 0.1 - 0.5% silica.
The wood is medium-weight; it is not durable and is liable to attack by fungi, termites and other insects, but is resistant to marine borers[]. The high silica content, and the presence of interlocked grain, may cause problems during processing and make special equipment necessary. The wood saws easily, but with serious blunting effect, necessitating the use of stellite teeth and tungsten carbide tools - the working angle should be reduced as much as possible. Quarter sawn pieces have a ribbon-like aspect and are sometimes marbled; flat-sawn pieces have better surfaces after processing. The peeling properties are good. Although the wood can be peeled without prior steaming, steaming is recommended to improve the quality of the sheets obtained; it is not recommended or useful for slicing. Gluing properties are good, but problems may arise with glues based on phenol-formol. Nailing, screwing and finishing properties are good. The wood is not recommended for temporarily or permanently humid conditions. The wood is especially used for plywood (for boxes, packaging or furniture) and no longer used much in massive form, although it can be sawn into planks for interior joinery, furniture, carpentry, moulding, parquetry, interior stairs, panelling, vehicle bodies, boat hulls, boxes and poles. Locally, the wood is used for making canoes. It is suitable for papermaking[].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe. Germination takes 30 - 37 days[]. The seeds can germinate in forest undergrowth and tolerate quite low light intensities. The seeds may form dense mats below mother trees, but many of them disappear rapidly. Some seedlings may persist in forest undergrowth for several years, but more light seems necessary for subsequent growth[].

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