Common Name:

General Information

Lepidotrichilia volkensii is an evergreen shrub or tree with a strongly-branched, spreading crown; it can grow from 3 - 20 metres tall, exceptionally to 25 metres. The small bole is often fluted[].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and source of wood.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

East tropical Africa - Sudan, Ethiopia, eastern DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi.

Habitat

An understorey tree of moist forest types in the montane zone at elevations from 1,050 - 2,400 metres, sometimes to 3,300 metres. Often found in association with Podocarpus, Hagenia and Schefflera, but sometimes also in secondary evergreen bushland[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	15.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of moderate elevations in the tropics, where it can be found at elevations from 1,050 - 3,300 metres. It is found in areas where the mean annual rainfall is within the range 1,500 - 2,000mm[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[].

The bark is used in fermentation processes[].

Medicinal

The sesquiterpenoid voleneol has been isolated from the plant[].

Other Uses

The whitish heartwood is hard, with a fine texture. The wood is used for local construction and to make spoons and tool handles[].
The wood is used for fuel and to make charcoal[].

Propagation

Seed - it has a short period of viability and so should be sown as soon as it is ripe. The seed does not need pretreatment[].

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