Common Name:

General Information

Paramacrolobium coeruleum is an evergreen tree with a spreading crown and drooping branches; it can grow from 5 - 40 metres tall. The straight and cylindrical bole can be free of branches for up to 20 metres and 15 - 60cm in diameter with buttresses at the base, but it is often irregular with branches from very low down[, ].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a source of wood and fibre. It has been used to provide shade in cocoa plantations in Sierra Leone.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Guinea to Cote D'Ivoire; Central African Republic, Congo, DR Congo, Angola, Kenya, Tanzania.

Habitat

Closed evergreen forest, rain-forest on firm ground; river sides in Brachystegia forest-woodland; gallery forest; often forming clumps; at elevations up to 525 metres[].

Properties

Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	25.00 m
Growth Rate	Slow
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Seedlings should be planted out in the full sun and in fertile soils to obtain good growth[].
When grown in the nursery, seedlings are about 30cm tall after 4 months and 60cm tall after 15 months[].
In Guinea, 6-year-old saplings showed a mean annual height growth of 85 - 130cm, but in DR Congo planted trees were only 4.5 metres tall after 11 years and had a high mortality[].
Fruits are eaten by monkeys and large rodents, which may serve as seed dispersers[].
Although the distribution of this species is notably discontinuous, it does not seem correlated with any important geographical variation[].
Although many species within the family Fabaceae have a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria, this species is said to be devoid of such a relationship and therefore does not fix atmospheric nitrogen[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

Several long-chain fatty acids have been isolated from root bark extracts; these acetylenic acids showed inhibitory activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, the enzyme responsible for the formation of mevalonate in the rate-determining step of cholesterol biosynthesis[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The tree has been used to provide shade in cocoa plantations[].

Other Uses

The bark is used as rough fibre[].

The seeds are used in games[].

The heartwood is pale brown to yellowish brown or pinkish brown with darker brown streaks on quarter-sawn surfaces, and usually indistinctly demarcated from the sapwood. The grain is straight to interlocked, texture moderately coarse and even. The wood is moderately heavy, with a density of about 700 kg/m³ at 12% moisture content, and is moderately hard. The rates of shrinkage during drying are high and the wood may develop severe surface splits and cupping, whereas it is susceptible to blue stain attack during drying. The wood saws and works well, is easy to plane and takes a good finish. The gluing and bending properties are satisfactory. The wood is moderately durable, being liable to termite, Lyctus and marine borer attacks.
The wood is used for joinery, doors, frames of doors, furniture, railway sleepers, tool handles, grain mortars and gongs. It is suitable for heavy flooring, interior trim, toys, novelties, turnery, carving, veneer and plywood[, ].
The wood is used for fuel and to make charcoal[].

Propagation

Seed - pre-treatment is not needed, but soaking in cold water for 1 - 2 days or in nearly boiling water for a few minutes speeds up the germination process[].
Seeds can be stored for at least 18 months, when the viability is still about 40%[].

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