Common Name:

General Information

Amphimas pterocarpoides is a large deciduous tree growing up to 45 metres tall[].
The tree is often exploited in the wild for its timber, and is also used in traditional medicine[]. The wood can be found on a very small scale as veneer in Europe, under the name 'white wenge', but it is now mainly used locally in Africa[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Guinea east to DR Congo and Sudan, and south to northern Gabon.

Habitat

Found in different types of forest, from dense evergreen forest to deciduous forest, sometimes also in secondary forest and bush fallow[]. It may become common in agricultural land as the trees are difficult to fell[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Tree
Height	40.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of tropical forests, growing best in areas of high rainfall[].
Requires a sunny position[]. Seedlings tolerate some shade, but saplings require more light for proper growth, developing straight and unbranched stems until they are at least 70 cm tall[]. Grows best in a rich soil[].
Natural regeneration is generally abundant[].
Trees usually flower when they are leafless in the dry season, the fruits take about 3 months to ripen[].
Until recently the wood of this tree was considered to be of rather poor quality, but with the depletion of many commercial timber species it is becoming of more interest, especially for local construction and joinery, but presumably also for export in the future[].
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

None known

Medicinal

The sticky reddish resin obtained from the bark is used in traditional medicine to treat dysentery, anaemia, haematuria, dysmenorrhoea, blennorrhoea, schistosomiasis and mumps, and as an antidote to poison antidote[, ].

The inner bark is administered to treat cough and in a steam bath against yaws and sores on the feet[].

A decoction of twig bark is applied to prevent threatening abortion[].

A wood decoction is drunk to treat impotence[].

Other Uses

The heartwood is yellowish brown, often with whitish markings that darken with age, and more or less distinctly demarcated from the 5 - 8cm wide band of yellow-white to pale brown sapwood. The grain is usually straight, sometimes wavy, texture medium to coarse. The wood is moderately heavy; moderately hard; moderately durable, with good resistance to termites and fungi, but poor resistance to dry wood borers. It seasons slowly with a high risk of checking and distortion; once dry it is moderately to poorly stable in service. It normally saws and works well with standard equipment, but stellite-tipped sawteeth are recommended for sawing large logs. It can be planed to a smooth surface, but with some dulling effect on cutting edges. The nailing and screwing properties are good, with satisfactory holding properties, but pre-boring is often needed. The gluing properties are satisfactory, and painting and varnishing are easy]. The wood is used for interior construction, carpentry, flooring, planks, interior trim, joinery, furniture, frames, crates, boxes, toys, novelties, veneer and plywood; it is also locally used for canoes, huts, mortars and as frames to support yam. It has been used for railway sleepers and poles, although use in contact with soil is discouraged[, ].
The pulping characteristics for paper production are rather poor and the wood pulp can only be used in combination with better pulp[].

Propagation

Seed - germinates within 5 - 15 days, but seedlings stop growth for a few weeks when they have developed the first 2 leaves[].

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