The genus Tarrietia has been recognized as distinct by some botanists (for example Van Steenis, C.G.G.J. 1960. Bibliography. Flora Malesiana Bulletin 3: 772.), whilst others (such as 1959a. A monograph of the genus Heritiera Dry. (Sterculiaceae) (including Argyrodendron F. v. M. and Tarrietia Bl.). Penerbitan, Madjelis Ilmu Pengetahutan Indonesia 1: 1-121.) have included it as a synonym of Heritiera. We are following this latter course, in line with Wilkie P. Et al; Phylogenetic Relationships within the Subfamily Sterculioideae (Malvaceae/Sterculiaceae-Sterculieae) Using the Chloroplast Gene ndhF; Systematic Botany, (2006), 31(1): pp. 160-170[].

Common Name:

General Information

Heritiera utilis is an evergreen tree with a compact and rounded crown; usually growing up to 35 metres tall but with some specimens reaching 45 metres[]. The bole is cylindrical, but often crooked; it can be branchless for up to 20 metres, occasionally for 30 metres; and is up to 150cm, occasionally to 300cm, in diameter[]. The bole can have high, thin and arched buttresses, or stilt-like buttresses (which are especially well developed in swamp forest)[].
The tree is widely exploited for its timber, and also has local medicinal uses.
Exploitation rates for this species are high and likely to be unsustainable. Consequently, the tree has been classified as 'Vulnerable' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2010)[].

Known Hazards

The wood may cause dermatitis, although it is generally considered non-toxic and non-allergenic[].

Botanical References

Range

West tropical Africa - Sierra Leone to Ghana.

Habitat

Evergreen forest, moist semi-deciduous forest and gallery forest, also in secondary forest, usually at elevations lower than 500 metres. It is often found along watercourses and in swamps, being very drought-sensitive[].

Properties

Conservation Status	Vulnerable
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	30.00 m
Growth Rate	Slow
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the moist, lowland tropics, where it is found in regions with an annual rainfall of 1,500 - 2,500mm[].
Older plants are light demanding, but seedlings and saplings can tolerate shade for several years and then start to grow immediately once the canopy is opened[]. Plants seem to prefer loamy soils to sandy soils[]. Plants are intolerant of drought, although trees with the best-shaped boles occur on well-drained localities[].
Seedlings develop a taproot with numerous lateral roots.
Growth is fairly slow with seedling reaching about 1 metre tall when 15 months old and 5 - 7 metres tall when 5 - 6 years old[]. At this time the stilt-like buttresses may start to develop[].
Natural pruning is quite good, but the bole is nevertheless often slightly sinuous, especially in swamp forest[].
Plantation trees in Sierra Leone showed an average annual diameter growth of 1.7cm over the first 15 years, by which time they had reached a height of 20 metres[].
In plantations without shade trees in Cote d'Ivoire, the average growth is up to 1 metre per year during the first 4 - 5 years, but then accelerates to 2 metres per year until 10 years old[].
In a 62-year-old plantation in Cote d'Ivoire, mean annual bole diameter increment was 1 cm for the largest trees (20% of all trees), but in natural forest it is about 0.4 cm[].
In plantations the timber can be harvested after 50 - 60 years, when the boles have attained an average diameter of 50cm[].
Trees start setting fruit when 15 - 17 years old. The fruits may be dispersed by wind, but they are not very light and do not travel far[].

Edible Uses

The seeds are reportedly edible[].

Medicinal

The bark has medicinal applications, a decoction being applied to skin affections caused by leprosy and taken internally as an aphrodisiac[].

The seed oil is used as an aphrodisiac[]. Ground seeds are applied as a poultice to abscesses[].

The wood is considered to have antidysenteric properties[].

Other Uses

The bark contains tannins[].

The heartwood is pale pink to red-brown; it is usually distinctly demarcated from the 30 - 75mm wide band of whitish sapwood. The grain is interlocked, texture moderately coarse. The wood is oily to the touch, and there is a distinct silver grain. The wood is moderately heavy; shrinkage rates are moderately high; the timber dries fairly easy and fairly rapidly, but often with a tendency to twist and occasional end surface checking; once dry, it is moderately stable in service. The wood blunts edged tools moderately rapidly due to the presence of interlocked grain, and there is a risk of tearing in machining and of clogging due to the presence of resin. Filling is recommended to obtain a good finish. The nailing and screwing properties are good, although splitting may occur. Gluing does not cause problems. The bending properties are moderate, staining and polishing satisfactory. The heartwood is moderately durable. It is moderately resistant to fungi and termites, but resistant to dry-wood borers; the sapwood is liable to powder-post beetle attack. The heartwood is extremely resistant to preservative treatment[]. The wood is widely used for exterior and interior joinery, panelling, flooring, moulding, carpentry, furniture, cabinet work, stairs (inside), shipbuilding (planks, deck), and sliced veneer for interior and exterior faces of plywood. Locally, it is popular for making canoes, oars and planks for house building. It has been used for shingles[, ].

Propagation

Seed - it has no dormancy and is best sown as soon as it is ripe. The seed is sown in a semi-shaded position in a nursery seedbed, leaving the wing protruding above soil level[]. Germination rates of 80% or more can be expected with the seeds sprouting in 3 - 14 days[]. Saplings are traditionally planted out when 18 - 30 months old and 1 - 1.5 metres tall, but increasingly they are being planted when 8 - 9 months old and 30 - 50cm tall[]. Pruning of lateral roots about one month before transplanting promotes the formation of a dense system of short lateral roots, enhancing the chance of successful establishment in the field[].

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