Common Name: Cape Mahogany

General Information

Cape mahogany is an evergreen tree with a dense, spreading crown; usually growing up to 30 metres tall but with some specimens reaching 40 metres[]. The cylindrical bole, which is usually up to 100 cm in diameter, occasionally to 200cm, is often slightly buttressed[].
A multipurpose tree that is important locally. It is commonly harvested from the wild and provides food, medicine and various commodities. The seed, roots and leaves are also traded locally, especially in South Africa, whilst the seeds are harvested on a commercial scale from wild trees for the industrial production of pharmaceutical products, and for making soaps, candles and cosmetics[, ]. Although mainly harvested from the wild, the tree is also sometimes cultivated and is often retained when clearing land for farmland[]. A beautiful shady avenue tree, it is often grown as an ornamental[, ].

Known Hazards

The bark is very toxic. It is used in the preparation of fish poison[].

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Cote D'Ivoire to Ethiopia, south to Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and S. Africa; avoiding the moister areas.

Habitat

The transition zone between forest-savannah mosaic and moist evergreen forest, mostly at elevations of 500 - 1,600 metres in the north of its range, but gradually descending to sea level in S. Africa[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	25.00 m
Growth Rate	Fast
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the moist tropics, but avoiding the wetter regions. It is found at elevations from 800 - 2,000 metres near the Equator, but descends to sea level as it enters the subtropics. It is usually found in areas where the mean annual rainfall is in the range 1,500 - 2,500 mm[]. The plant is sensitive to frost, but as long as the damage is not too severe, it recovers easily[].
Succeeds in full sun and dappled to fairly deep shade[, ]. Grows best in humus-rich, fertile, moist soils[].
Young trees grow fairly quickly, with a mean annual girth increment of 20 - 25mm[].
Older plants are fast growing and require little or no management[].
Trees growing in open positions start fruiting when about 10 years old, those in more shaded, forest-like conditions may not bear fruit before they are 20 years old[].
The tree is tolerant of fire[].
The tree coppices well. For ornamental purposes, it may be pruned into shrub form[].
Average seed yields per tree in Mozambique are about 20 - 25 kg/year, but in a good year a large tree may produce 180 kg[]. Trees that have produced heavily in one year tend to produce little in the next year[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if seed is required.

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw or cooked[]. It can be cooked and used as a vegetable, or crushed and made into a sweet drink or sauce[, ].

Seed - boiled and eaten as a side dish[]. The seedcoat contains toxins and must be removed before the seed is cooked[, ].

The seeds provide an oil that is used for cooking even though it has a bitter flavour[]. The seedcoat is poisonous and only well-prepared oil is safe for consumption[].

Medicinal

Throughout Africa the seed oil, leaves, root and bark are used in similar ways uses to those of Trichilia emetica, though they are generally considered to be inferior. They are used to treat a variety of complaints ranging from lumbago to leprosy and sleeplessness[].
A large number of limonoids have been isolated from the seed, especially from the seedcoat. including evodulone and prieurianin derivatives. Limonoids of other plants in this family (Meliaceae) are well known as antifeedants and growth regulators of insects, but they also have some antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities[].
The bark, which is very toxic, contains inhibitors of the prostaglandin-synthesis, which play a role in inflammation and pain suppression[].

The seed oil is rubbed into cuts made in the skin of a fractured limb in order to hasten healing[]. It is used as a massage oil to treat rheumatism and as a general body ointment[].

The fruit has emetic and purgative properties[].

Poultices made of the leaves or fruits are applied to bruises and eczema[].

A decoction of the roots is used as a general tonic; to treat fever; and as a purgative[]. It is also used to induce labour in pregnant women; and to treat intestinal worms, colds and infertility[].

A decoction of the bark is drunk as a purgative or abortifacient, and also to treat dysentery and diarrhoea, fevers and lumbago[, ].
The bark is used externally as a treatment against scabies[].
Decoctions of the bark, applied in the form of an enema, are used as a purgative and abortifacient, as well as to treat back pain caused by kidney problems[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The tree is grown to provide shade for coffee plantations, or is left standing as a shade tree when the forest is cleared[].

Other Uses

The seeds contain 55 - 65% oil. This is used as a body ointment and hair oil, as well as to make candles, soap and cosmetics[, ]. The approximate fatty acid composition of the oil is: palmitic acid 34%, stearic acid 3%, oleic acid 51%, linoleic acid 11%, linolenic acid 1%[]. To obtain the oil, the seeds are first ground into a powder and pounded, they are then boiled in water and the oil is skimmed off[].

The heartwood is pale brown to pink, the sapwood whitish, though the wood darkens with age and exposure. When oiled, it darkens considerably, leaving little difference between the heartwood and sapwood. The grain is generally straight, texture medium coarse, the wood has a distinct figure[]. The wood is not durable and is subject to attack by borers. It is easily worked and polishes well. It is not durable and susceptible to borer attack[]. The wood is particularly important as a material for making carvings, especially in southern Africa, and is also used for indoor furniture, household utensils, shelving, construction, dugout canoes etc[, , ].
The wood is used for fuel and for making charcoal[, ].

Propagation

Seed - it is intolerant of being dried and has a short viability, so should be sown as soon as it is ripe. Seed is sometimes sown in situ; if sowing in a nursery seedbed then choose a position with some shade. No pre-treatment is required, but removal of the fleshy outer seedcoat speeds up germination[]. A rich mixture of sandy soil and compost with plenty of moisture is recommended. The seed usually sprouts within 2 - 4 weeks[]. Protect the seedlings from frost[].
Natural reproduction is abundant owing to regular and copious seeding from a fairly early age, comparative immunity from damage by animals and its power of recovery from injury. Seeds germinate during the early rains and seedlings attain a length of 10 - 20cm by the end of the first year[].

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