If you would like to support this site, please consider Donating.
Useful Tropical Plants

Homalium africanum

(Hook.f.) Benth.

Salicaceae

+ Synonyms

Blackwellia africana Hook.f.

Homalium buchholzii Warb.

Homalium crassipetalum Exell

Homalium ealensis De Wild.

Homalium gentilii De Wild.

Homalium gilletii De Wild.

Homalium lundense Cavaco

Homalium molle Stapf

Homalium platypleurum Mildbr.

Homalium riparium Gilg

Homalium sarcopetalum Pierre

Homalium tibiatense Gilg

Common Name:

Homalium africanum
Inflorescence
Photograph by: A. Gentry
Creative Commons License

General Information

Homalium africanum is usually a tree growing up to 25 metres tall, occasionally to 33 metres, though sometimes it is only a shrub 2 - 5 metres tall. The short, straight bole is up to 40cm in diameter; it is slightly fluted, with branches from quite low down[
328
Title
African Flowering Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php
Publisher
Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques.
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
,
332
Title
The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
Burkil. H. M.
Publisher
Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew.
Year
1985 - 2004
ISBN
 
Description
Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use of its wood.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

515
Title
Flora of Tropical Africa Vol 1 - 8
Publication
 
Author
Var
Website
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Publisher
L.Reeve & Co.; Ashford, Kent.
Year
1868 - 1917
ISBN
 
Description
Very little information on habitat, range and uses, but gives good descriptions of the plants. It can be downloaded from the internet.

Range

Tropical Africa - Guinea to Cameroon and DR Congo, south to Angola.

Habitat

Rain-forest, also swampy or periodically flooded forest; gallery forest; creeks; secondary forest; rare in dry or transitional forest; at elevations from 600 - 1,360 metres, sometimes descending to sea level[
328
Title
African Flowering Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php
Publisher
Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques.
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
].

Properties

Other Uses Rating *  *
HabitTree
Height0.00 m
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

A trace of alkaloid has been detected in the bark and roots of material from Congo[
332
Title
The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
Burkil. H. M.
Publisher
Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew.
Year
1985 - 2004
ISBN
 
Description
Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
].

Other Uses

The wood varies from brown to dull white, and is hard. It is used for yam stakes and is suitable for carpentry[
332
Title
The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
Burkil. H. M.
Publisher
Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew.
Year
1985 - 2004
ISBN
 
Description
Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
].
We do not have any more information on the wood of this species. However, we have a general description of the wood for the tropical West African members of this genus, which is as follows:-
The heartwood is yellowish-white, sometimes with darker stripes; it is not differentiated from the sapwood. The texture is fine; the grain straight or interlocked; lustre is dull. The wood is moderately durable, being fairly resistant to marine borer attack. It has good weathering properties. It is reported to require very careful seasoning. The wood is easy to saw, plane, and finish, but hardened cutters are required. Rapid blunting may occur due to the presence of silica; it has good steambending characteristics. The wood is used for purposes such as heavy construction, flooring, boatbuilding, railroad crossties, poles and piles[
316
Title
Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607.
Publication
 
Author
Chudnoff. Martin.
Publisher
USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin.
Year
1984
ISBN
 
Description
Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics.
].

Propagation

Seed -
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-03-28. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Homalium+africanum>

Add a Comment:

If you have any useful information about this plant, please leave a comment. Comments have to be approved before they are shown here.