Common Name:

General Information

Brachystegia leonensis is a tree with a moderately sized, fairly open crown of ascending branches; it can grow up to 45 metres tall. The straight, cylindrical bole can be unbranched for up to 30 metres; 70 - 200cm in diameter, usually with thick, heavy buttresses up to 1.8 metres high[].
The tree is harvested from the wild for its wood, which is used locally and also exported.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

West tropical Africa - Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Cote D'Ivoire.

Habitat

An emergent tree growing on ridges and in valleys near water of evergreen rain-forest; sometimes locally abundant; upper rocky hill slopes; open woodlands; at elevations from 200 - 500 metres[].

Properties

Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	35.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The heartwood is light brown to red brown with purplish glints; it is clearly demarcated from the 6 - 15cm wide band of white sapwood. The texture is medium; the grain usually interlocked, sometimes irregular. The wood is heavy; moderately hard to hard; elastic; moderately durable, being resistant to dry wood borers and moderately resistant to fungi and termites. It seasons fairly slowly, with a high risk of checking and distortion; once dry it is stable in service. The wood has a fairly high blunting effect, stellite-tipped and tungsten carbide tools are recommended; it is difficult to obtain a good finish due to the irregular grain, careful sanding and filling are required; nailing and screwing are good, but pre-boring is required to prevent splitting; gluing is correct. The wood has various uses including in construction, cabinet making, furniture, flooring, light carpentry, interior joinery and panelling and veneer[, ].

Propagation

Seed -

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