Common Name:

General Information

Trichoscypha arborea is an evergreen tree that can grow up to 30 metres tall. The usually straight bole can be free of branches for most of its height; it is up to 50cm in diameter, often with small buttresses[, , ].
The tree is valued locally for its edible fruit and its traditional medicinal uses; it is commonly harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and also as a source of wood. The bark is sold for medicinal purposes in local markets. The tree has good prospects for domestication, particularly for use in agroforestry systems[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

West tropical Africa - Sierra Leone to Nigeria, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

Habitat

Found mostly in evergreen forest, sometimes in moist semi-deciduous forest, often along watercourses and also in coastal formations; at elevations up to 300 metres[]. At elevations up to 1,600 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	0.00 m
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Prefers a moist but freely draining soil[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[, ]. A sweetish edible pulp that is a bit fibrous around the seed[]. The mean weight of a fruit is 45g, with about 80% of a sweet pulp[]. The red fruit is an ellipsoid drupe 20 - 25mm long and 15 - 20mm in diameter with a sweetish, yellow flesh[].

Medicinal

The bark contains a resin which is used to prevent miscarriage and in the treatment of amenorrhoea, diarrhoea and dysentery[, ].

Other Uses

The bark contains resin which is suitable for vanish production and for medicinal purposes[].

The heartwood is variable in colour, from pinkish grey to reddish brown or yellowish brown with a green-pinkish tinge, often with darker streaks; it is distinctly demarcated from the greyish sapwood. The grain is often interlocked; texture rather fine and even; the wood is lustrous, odourless and tasteless when dry. The wood is moderately heavy; hard; tough; moderately durable, with an expected outdoor service life of 8 - 15 years; it is liable to attacks by Lyctus borers, termites and marine borers. The drying characteristics are satisfactory, although the rates of shrinkage may be considerable. The wood is not difficult to saw and work, but has a tendency to develop rough surfaces. It is used for hut-construction, canoes and planks. It is also carved into fetish masks, etc. It is suitable for light flooring, joinery, interior trim, furniture, cabinet work, musical instrument, pestles, toys, novelties, veneer, plywood, hardboard and particle board. It is recorded to have some industrial importance in the production of paper pulp, alone or in a mixture with other woods[, ].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe, but some seed will still germinate after 3 years[]. Germination commences after 20 - 56 days, with up to 80 - 90% of the seed sprouting[]. Seedlings develop a dark red taproot with slender lateral roots; the first 5 - 10 leaves of seedlings are simple, the first compound leaves not developping until 6 - 12 months after germination[].

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