Common Name:

General Information

Oldfieldia africana is a large tree growing to 36 metres or more tall with a straight bole that can be 20 metres tall and 4.8 metres in girth. The base has heavy root swellings or swollen root spurs, extending in spreading surface roots[]. Thick heavy buttresses up to 1 metre tall are only occasionally found[].
The tree is gathered from the wild for local medicinal use. This species was one of the first trees from the African coast to have been exploited for timber[]. At one time it was exported from Sierra Leone to Britain as a teak-substitute[]. Though the timber appears to be less abundantly available from Sierra Leone than formerly, it remains an item of export from Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Cote D'Ivoire[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

West tropical Africa - Sierra Leone to Gabon.

Habitat

Evergreen- and moist semi-deciduous forest; occasionally in secondary forest; scattered or in small groups[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	30.00 m
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if seed is required.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

In Ivory Coast the tree is considered a powerful fetish tree with efficacious medicinal virtues[].

The bark is antiseptic and haemostatic[]. It is added to other herbs in order to increase their potency[]. A decoction of the bark is added to baths and draughts in order to treat blennorrhoea and act as a pelvic decongestant[].
A dressing of the powdered bark is used to hasten healing, and to treat sores[].
The bark is boiled up with palm-oil to make an ointment, which is used to treat lice infestation[].

The leaves are used on the head and loins to rid the body of lice and crabs[].

Other Uses

The leaves are bitter, They are crushed and inserted into incisions on wine-palms (Raphia sp.) in order to drive off bees which are after the palm-wine[].
The seeds and bark are pounded together for use as a pesticide[].

The heart-wood is dark brown to reddish brown, the sap-wood lighter[]. The wood is very heavy, hard, tough, strong and durable in contact with water[]. It takes a good polish[]. An excellent construction timber, though it is difficult to work when dry. It has been used for making dock-gates and bridges; in naval construction for key-parts of ocean-going boats such as keels; for sawing into planks, beams, joists and boxes; and, when small, for house-posts[].

Propagation

Seed -

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