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Useful Tropical Plants

Entandrophragma angolense

(Welw.) C.DC.

Meliaceae

+ Synonyms

Entandrophragma candolleanum De Wild. & T.Durand

Entandrophragma congoense (Pierre ex De Wild.) A.Chev.

Entandrophragma gregoireianum Staner

Entandrophragma leplaei Vermoesen

Entandrophragma macrophyllum A.Chev.

Entandrophragma pierrei A.Chev.

Entandrophragma platanoides Vermoesen

Entandrophragma rederi Harms

Entandrophragma septentrionale A.Chev.

Leioptyx congoensis Pierre ex De Wild.

Swietenia angolensis Welw.

Common Name: Tiama Mahogany

No Image.

General Information

Entandrophragma angolense is a slow-growing, deciduous, dioecious, large tree growing up to 50 metres tall with some specimens reaching 60 metres[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
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http://www.prota.org
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An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. The bole can be branchless for up to 30 metres, it is usually straight and cylindrical, up to 200 cm in diameter, often with blunt buttresses up to 6 metres high, often extending into surface roots[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
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Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
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Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local medicinal use, whilst the timber is regarded as being one of the finest woods in Africa. The tree is widely exploited from the wild and its timber is traded internationally[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
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Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Because of the extent of exploitation of this species, it has been listed as 'Vulnerable' in the IUCN Red List (2009)[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
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Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References


Range

Tropical Africa - Guinea and Sierra Leone, east to Sudan, south to Angola and Kenya.

Habitat

Most commonly found in moist semi-deciduous forest, though it can also be found in evergreen forest. It occurs in lowland and mid-altitude rainforest, but sometimes also in gallery forest and thickets, at elevations up to 1,800 metres[
299
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Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
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Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
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Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Properties

Conservation StatusVulnerable
Medicinal Rating *  *
Other Uses Rating *  *  *  *
HabitDeciduous Tree
Height50.00 m
Growth RateSlow
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the moist tropics at low to moderate elevations of up to 1,800 metres[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
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Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. It grows best in areas where the average rainfall is 1,600 - 1,800mm, growing less well when rainfall exceeds 2,300mm[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Strongly prefers well-drained localities with good water-holding capacity[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. Young plants require shade, but after the seedling stage they should be gradually exposed to more light[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Natural regeneration is often scarce in natural forest, but logging operations that create gaps may promote regeneration. In natural forest, saplings are most common in gaps[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. Tests with seedlings showed that growth was good under conditions simulating the light conditions in small forest gaps, and that growth was still fair under the light conditions of medium-sized gaps. The seedlings performed poorly under full-light conditions[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Under optimal conditions seedlings grow fairly fast, about 1 metre per year during the first two years, exceptionally up to 2 metres per year[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. Striplings may reach 6 metres tall 4 years after planting[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Larger trees show average annual diameter increments of 2 - 6.5 mm, with highest increment in the diameter class of 50 - 70 cm when the crown reached the forest canopy[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
It has been estimated that it takes nearly 140 years for a planted tree to reach 100 cm bole diameter[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Trees start fruit production at larger diameters, and this has implications for forest management; harvesting trees of less than 50 cm bole diameter seriously reduces fruit production[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The bark is used in traditional medicine[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. A decoction is drunk to treat fever[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
The bark is also used, usually in external applications, as an anodyne against stomach-ache and peptic ulcers, earache, and kidney, rheumatic or arthritic pains[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. It is also applied externally to treat ophthalmia, swellings and ulcers[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Methanol extracts of the bark have shown dose-dependent inhibitory effects on gastric ulcers[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
The triterpenoid methyl angolensate, isolated from the bark, exerted inhibition of gastric ulceration and smooth muscle activity, and reduced the propulsive action of the gastrointestinal tract[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Methyl angolensate has shown sedative activity[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Bark extracts have shown moderate antiplasmodial activity; the compounds 7α-obacunylacetate and 24-methylenecycloartenol exhibited pronounced activity against chloroquine-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Tirucallane triterpenes have been isolated from a leaf extract[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Agroforestry Uses:

The tree is planted as roadside tree, and occasionally as a shade tree in banana, coffee and tea plantations[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

Other Uses

Shavings of the wood, combined with rice husks, have been processed in a pressure vessel in the presence of aqueous sodium sulphide to produce a brilliant yellow dye of reasonable fastness to light and alkaline wash on cotton fabrics[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].

The heartwood is pale pinkish brown to pale reddish brown, slightly darkening upon exposure to deep reddish brown, with golden shades; it is distinctly demarcated from the 6 - 10cm wide band of creamy white to pale pinkish sapwood. The grain is interlocked, texture moderately coarse and fairly even. The wood is light in weight; moderately soft; moderately durable, being resistant to dry wood borers, liable to powder-post beetle, pinhole borer and marine borer attacks and with variable resistance to termites. It air dries somewhat slowly, with a high risk of checking and distortion; once dry it is moderately stable to stable in service. The wood saws and works easily with both hand and machine tools; it has only moderate blunting effects on cutting edges. Drilling, mortising and turning properties are all satisfactory. The wood is not liable to splitting in nailing and screwing, with good holding properties. The gluing, staining and polishing properties are good, but the steam bending properties are poor. The wood is suitable for veneer production. The wood is highly valued for exterior and interior joinery, furniture, cabinet work, veneer and plywood, and is also used for flooring, interior trim, panelling, stairs, ship building, vehicle bodies and coffins. It is suitable for light construction, musical instruments, toys, novelties, boxes, crates, carvings and turnery[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
,
848
Title
Tropix 7
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://tropix.cirad.fr/en
Publisher
CIRAD
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.
].
Wood that is not suitable as timber is used as firewood and for charcoal production[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].


The seeds have a fat content of about 60%. The fat is rich in cis-vaccenic acid, an oleic acid isomer that can be used in the industrial production of nylon-11. The approximate fatty acid composition of samples of the oil from Ghana and Nigeria is: palmitic acid 4 - 6%, palmitoleic acid 11 - 16%, hexadecadienoic acid 3 - 5%, stearic acid 10 - 15%, oleic acid 2 - 3%, vaccenic acid 32 - 43%, linoleic acid 11 - 15% and arachidic acid 1 - 2%. Tests with tadpoles showed that the seeds contain toxic compounds, probably limonoids.

Propagation

Seed - pre-soaking in warm water for one night is reported to speed up germination[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. Seeds should be placed in seed beds with the wing pointing upward and threequarters of the seed (without wing) buried. When sown fresh, the seed may have a high germination rate of more than 75%, but the germination rate decreases to about 25% after 3 weeks storage in open air[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. Germination of fresh seeds starts 1 week after sowing, but germination of seeds stored for 10 - 15 days may take 30 - 45 days[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. Overhead shade is required for young seedlings[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Seeds can be stored for some time in sealed containers in a cool place, but insect damage, to which they are very susceptible, should be avoided, e.g. By adding ash[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
It is recommended to plant out young trees under a light cover of a young secondary forest or in enrichment lines in forest paths[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
]. It is possible to plant in full sun on exceptionally fertile soils or on dead termite nests but the mortality may be as high as 50% after some years[
299
Title
Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.prota.org
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-10-11. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Entandrophragma+angolense>

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