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Anopyxis klaineana (Pierre) Engl.

Protologue  
 Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam., II–IV Nachtr. 2: 49 (1900).
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Family  
 Rhizophoraceae
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Chromosome number  
 2n = 64
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Synonyms  
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Vernacular names  
 White oak (En).
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Origin and geographic distribution  
 Anopyxis klaineana is widespread, occurring from Sierra Leone east to the Central African Republic and south to DR Congo and Cabinda (Angola).
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Uses  
 The wood of Anopyxis klaineana, traded in Côte d’Ivoire as ‘bodioa’ and in Ghana as ‘kokote’, is used for heavy construction, heavy flooring, exterior and interior joinery, panelling, furniture, turnery and sliced veneer. It is suitable for interior trim, mine props, railway sleepers, sporting goods, toys, novelties, ladders, tool handles, agricultural implements, boxes and crates. It is also used as firewood.
The bark is used in traditional medicine. A bark maceration is used to treat gonorrhoea, pounded bark is applied externally against bronchitis, lung complaints and kidney pain and on skin infections and wounds, and a bark preparation is administered as enema to treat stomach-ache.
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Production and international trade  
 Anopyxis klaineana timber has no importance on the international timber market, but it is commonly used locally in West and Central Africa.
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Properties  
 The heartwood is dull pale brown to yellowish brown or reddish brown, and not distinctly demarcated from the slightly paler sapwood. The grain is straight to slightly wavy, texture rather coarse.
The wood is heavy, with a density of 840–980 kg/m³ at 12% moisture content, and hard. It air dries moderately slowly, with high risk of distortion and checking. Proper stacking is needed to avoid serious twisting. The rates of shrinkage are high, from green to oven dry 6.0–7.2% radial and 10.0–13.1% tangential. Boards of 2.5 cm thick can be dried to a moisture content of 20% in 6 weeks. Once dry, the wood is unstable to moderately stable in service.
At 12% moisture content, the modulus of rupture is 131–202 N/mm², modulus of elasticity 14,300–22,740 N/mm², compression parallel to grain 56–82 N/mm², cleavage 18–40 N/mm, Janka side hardness 11,800 N and Chalais-Meudon side hardness 5.1–13.4.
The wood is moderately easy to quite difficult to saw and work; it may require considerable power. Stellite-tipped saw teeth and tungsten carbide-tipped cutting tools are recommended. The wood planes well, although it may have a tendency of tearing when wavy grain is present. It polishes to a good finish when a filler is used. Pre-boring is necessary for nailing and screwing. The gluing and slicing properties are satisfactory, but the use of the wood for manufacturing plywood is limited by the high tendency of developing splits during drying. The wood turns well. It is brittle and not very resistant to shocks. It is moderately durable, being susceptible to fungal attacks, including blue stain, and dry-wood borers, but quite resistant to termite attacks. The wood is moderately permeable to preservatives.
The wood contains about 46% cellulose, 30% lignin, 15% pentosan, 0.9% ash and 0.02% silica. The solubility is 1.3% in alcohol-benzene, 1.8% in hot water and 15.2% in a 1% NaOH solution. Some samples studied had a high content of starch (5–6%), which may explain the sensitivity of the wood to some insect attacks.
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Description  
 Evergreen, medium-sized to large tree up to 50 m tall; bole branchless for up to 30 m, usually straight and cylindrical, up to 120 cm in diameter, without buttresses or with low buttresses; bark surface longitudinally fissured, grey to brownish, inner bark thick, granular, pale orange-pink, rapidly turning brown, with gritty streaks; crown dome-shaped, with few, heavy, ascending branches; twigs brittle, short-hairy, soon becoming glabrous, with numerous lenticels. Leaves in whorls of (2–)3(–4), simple and entire; stipules needle-shaped, 3–7 mm long, fairly long persistent; petiole 0.5–2 cm long, flattened above; blade oblong to elliptical or obovate, (5–)7–13 cm × (2–)3–5.5 cm, cuneate to obtuse at base, obtuse to rounded at apex, leathery, glabrous, pinnately veined with 6–12 pairs of lateral veins. Inflorescence an axillary cyme up to 5 cm long, greenish short-hairy. Flowers bisexual, regular, usually 5-merous, greenish white; pedicel 1–2 mm long; calyx campanulate, short-hairy, with tube c. 4 mm long and wide, lobes c. 6 mm long, spreading, persistent in fruit; petals free, spoon-shaped, up to 9 mm long, short-hairy; stamens usually 10, fused into a tube up to 10 mm long; ovary superior, ellipsoid, c. 3 mm long, densely hairy, usually 5-celled, style slightly longer than staminal tube. Fruit an ovoid to obovoid capsule 3–4 cm × c. 2 cm, dehiscing with 5 woody valves, up to 10-seeded. Seeds slightly curved, flattened, c. 8 mm long, brownish, with membranous wing c. 2 cm long. Seedling with epigeal germination; hypocotyl 2.5–6 cm long, epicotyl 1–2 cm long; cotyledons leafy, shortly stalked, broadly ovate, up to 2 cm long; first two leaves opposite, subsequent ones 2–3 together.
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Other botanical information  
 Anopyxis comprises a single species. It is related to Macarisia from Madagascar.
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Anatomy  
 Wood-anatomical description (IAWA hardwood codes):
Growth rings: 2: growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent. Vessels: 5: wood diffuse-porous; 9: vessels exclusively solitary (90% or more); 13: simple perforation plates; 23: shape of alternate pits polygonal; 31: vessel-ray pits with much reduced borders to apparently simple: pits rounded or angular; 32: vessel-ray pits with much reduced borders to apparently simple: pits horizontal (scalariform, gash-like) to vertical (palisade); 42: mean tangential diameter of vessel lumina 100–200 μm; 47: 5–20 vessels per square millimetre. Tracheids and fibres: 61: fibres with simple to minutely bordered pits; 62: fibres with distinctly bordered pits; 66: non-septate fibres present; 70: fibres very thick-walled. Axial parenchyma: 76: axial parenchyma diffuse; 78: axial parenchyma scanty paratracheal; 80: axial parenchyma aliform; 81: axial parenchyma lozenge-aliform; 93: eight (5–8) cells per parenchyma strand; 94: over eight cells per parenchyma strand. Rays: 98: larger rays commonly 4- to 10-seriate; (102: ray height > 1 mm); 106: body ray cells procumbent with one row of upright and/or square marginal cells; 107: body ray cells procumbent with mostly 2–4 rows of upright and/or square marginal cells; (110: sheath cells present); 115: 4–12 rays per mm. Mineral inclusions: 136: prismatic crystals present; 137: prismatic crystals in upright and/or square ray cells; 138: prismatic crystals in procumbent ray cells; 141: prismatic crystals in non-chambered axial parenchyma cells; 142: prismatic crystals in chambered axial parenchyma cells.
(N.P. Mollel, P.E. Gasson & E.A. Wheeler)
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Growth and development  
 The growth of seedlings is slow; they reach 35–50 cm tall 12 months after sowing. Under good conditions, plants may reach a height of 200 cm after 2.5 years. Shade leaves may differ considerably from normal leaves; they are papery with long hairs. Flowers and fruits can be found throughout the year, but in West Africa flowering trees are most common in August to October and fruits usually ripen in November to April. The seeds with their large wing are dispersed by wind.
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Ecology  
 Anopyxis klaineana occurs from wet evergreen forest to semi-deciduous forest, but its abundance increases with rainfall. It is often found in rather wet valleys, but also on steep rocky hill sites, and occurs up to 800 m altitude.
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Propagation and planting  
 Anopyxis klaineana is said to fruit abundantly every 2–3 years. There are about 35,000 seeds per kg. Seeds start to germinate 1.5–3 weeks after sowing. The germination rate is variable, but is often recorded to be poor. However, when fresh seeds are sorted, the germination rate may be as high as 90%. Seedlings are usually found in the open or in light shade, and Anopyxis klaineana is classified as a non-pioneer light demander. The survival rate of seedlings is higher in light shade.
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Management  
 Anopyxis klaineana usually occurs scattered in the forest or in small groups. In Liberia the average density of trees with a bole diameter of more than 60 cm has been recorded to be 0.08–0.16 per ha, and the total standing stock of trees with a bole diameter above 70 cm has been estimated at 4 million m³ at the beginning of the 1980s. In forest in Cameroon the average density of trees with a bole diameter of more than 60 cm is 0.06–0.15 per ha, with an average wood volume of 0.5–1.0 m³/ha. In Gabon the average wood volume is only 0.12 m³/ha.
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Harvesting  
 The prescribed minimum felling diameter is 70 cm in Ghana, the Central African Republic and Gabon, and 50 cm in Cameroon. Caution should be taken during harvesting operations because logs may be brittle.
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Handling after harvest  
 Freshly felled logs should be treated with a preservative or rapidly removed from the forest and processed because the wood is very susceptible to blue-stain fungi and some insect attacks. They sink in water and cannot be transported by river.
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Genetic resources and breeding  
 Anopyxis klaineana is widespread and although it usually occurs scattered in the forest and regenerates rather poorly, it does not seem to be threatened by genetic erosion at present. It is, however, under pressure by habitat loss and exploitation, and has been classified as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of threatened species.
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Prospects  
 Anopyxis klaineana is probably a timber tree with potential for international export, although its heavy wood is sensitive to fungal and insect attacks and often unstable in service. However, virtually nothing is known about its growth rates and suitable silvicultural and management practices, and much research is needed to give recommendations for sustainable production in the natural forest. Its scattered occurrence limits the production, and experiments should also focus on possibilities to increase the density of Anopyxis klaineana in the forest.
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Major references  
 • Bolza, E. & Keating, W.G., 1972. African timbers: the properties, uses and characteristics of 700 species. Division of Building Research, CSIRO, Melbourne, Australia. 710 pp.
• Burkill, H.M., 1997. The useful plants of West Tropical Africa. 2nd Edition. Volume 4, Families M–R. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 969 pp.
• CIRAD Forestry Department, 2009. Bodioa. [Internet] Tropix 6.0. http://tropix.cirad.fr/ africa/ bodioa.pdf. Accessed April 2011.
• de Koning, J., 1983. La forêt de Banco. Part 2: La Flore. Mededelingen Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen 83–1. Wageningen, Netherlands. 921 pp.
• Dudek, S., Förster, B. & Klissenbauer, K., 1981. Lesser known Liberian timber species. Description of physical and mechanical properties, natural durability, treatability, workability and suggested uses. GTZ, Eschborn, Germany. 168 pp.
• Keay, R.W.J., 1989. Trees of Nigeria. A revised version of Nigerian trees (1960, 1964) by Keay, R.W.J., Onochie, C.F.A. & Stanfield, D.P. Clarendon Press, Oxford, United Kingdom. 476 pp.
• Oteng-Amoako, A.A. (Editor), 2006. 100 tropical African timber trees from Ghana: tree description and wood identification with notes on distribution, ecology, silviculture, ethnobotany and wood uses. 304 pp.
• Siepel, A., Poorter, L. & Hawthorne, W.D., 2004. Ecological profiles of large timber species. In: Poorter, L., Bongers, F., Kouamé, F.N. & Hawthorne, W.D. (Editors). Biodiversity of West African forests. An ecological atlas of woody plant species. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, United Kingdom. pp. 391–445.
• Takahashi, A., 1978. Compilation of data on the mechanical properties of foreign woods (part 3) Africa. Shimane University, Matsue, Japan. 248 pp.
• Voorhoeve, A.G., 1979. Liberian high forest trees. A systematic botanical study of the 75 most important or frequent high forest trees, with reference to numerous related species. Agricultural Research Reports 652, 2nd Impression. Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation, Wageningen, Netherlands. 416 pp.
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Other references  
 • Aubréville, A., 1959. La flore forestière de la Côte d’Ivoire. Deuxième édition révisée. Tome troisième. Publication No 15. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 334 pp.
• de la Mensbruge, G., 1966. La germination et les plantules des essences arborées de la forêt dense humide de la Côte d’Ivoire. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 389 pp.
• Durand, P.Y., 1978. Propriétés physiques et mécaniques des bois de Côte d’Ivoire: moyennes d’espèce et variabilité intraspécifique. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. 70 pp.
• Hawthorne, W.D., 1995. Ecological profiles of Ghanaian forest trees. Tropical Forestry Papers 29. Oxford Forestry Institute, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. 345 pp.
• Hawthorne, W., 1998. Anopyxis klaineana. In: IUCN. 2010 IUCN Red list of threatened species. [Internet] http://www.iucnredlist.org. Accessed January 2011.
• Hawthorne, W. & Jongkind, C., 2006. Woody plants of western African forests: a guide to the forest trees, shrubs and lianes from Senegal to Ghana. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. 1023 pp.
• Hubert, D., undated. Sylviculture des essences de forêts denses humides d’Afrique de l’Ouest. 187 pp.
• Irvine, F.R., 1961. Woody plants of Ghana, with special reference to their uses. Oxford University Press, London, United Kingdom. 868 pp.
• Kryn, J.M. & Fobes, E.W., 1959. The woods of Liberia. Report 2159. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin, United States. 147 pp.
• Liben, L., 1987. Rhizophoraceae. In: Bamps, P. (Editor). Flore d’Afrique centrale. Spermatophytes. Jardin botanique national de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium. 36 pp.
• Neuwinger, H.D., 2000. African traditional medicine: a dictionary of plant use and applications. Medpharm Scientific, Stuttgart, Germany. 589 pp.
• Normand, D. & Paquis, J., 1976. Manuel d’identification des bois commerciaux. Tome 2. Afrique guinéo-congolaise. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 335 pp.
• Raponda-Walker, A. & Sillans, R., 1961. Les plantes utiles du Gabon. Paul Lechevalier, Paris, France. 614 pp.
• Sallenave, P., 1955. Propriétés physiques et mécaniques des bois tropicaux de l’Union française. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent sur Marne, France. 129 pp.
• Sallenave, P., 1964. Propriétés physiques et mécaniques des bois tropicaux. Premier supplément. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 79 pp.
• Sallenave, P., 1971. Propriétés physiques et mecaniques des bois tropicaux. Deuxième supplément. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 128 pp.
• Tailfer, Y., 1989. La forêt dense d’Afrique centrale. Identification pratique des principaux arbres. Tome 2. CTA, Wageningen, Pays Bas. pp. 465–1271.
• Taylor, C.J., 1960. Synecology and silviculture in Ghana. Thomas Nelson and Sons, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. 418 pp.
• Vivien, J. & Faure, J.J., 1985. Arbres des forêts denses d’Afrique Centrale. Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique, Paris, France. 565 pp.
• Wilks, C. & Issembé, Y., 2000. Les arbres de la Guinée Equatoriale: Guide pratique d’identification: région continentale. Projet CUREF, Bata, Guinée Equatoriale. 546 pp.
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Sources of illustration  
 • Voorhoeve, A.G., 1979. Liberian high forest trees. A systematic botanical study of the 75 most important or frequent high forest trees, with reference to numerous related species. Agricultural Research Reports 652, 2nd Impression. Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation, Wageningen, Netherlands. 416 pp.
• Wilks, C. & Issembé, Y., 2000. Les arbres de la Guinée Equatoriale: Guide pratique d’identification: région continentale. Projet CUREF, Bata, Guinée Equatoriale. 546 pp.
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Author(s)  
 
A.A. Oteng-Amoako
Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), University P.O. Box 63, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
C. Essien
Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), University P.O. Box 63, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana


Editors  
 
R.H.M.J. Lemmens
PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
D. Louppe
CIRAD, Département Environnements et Sociétés, Cirad es-dir, Campus international de Baillarguet, TA C 105 / D (Bât. C, Bur. 113), 34398 Montpellier Cédex 5, France
A.A. Oteng-Amoako
Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), University P.O. Box 63, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
Associate editors  
 
E.A. Obeng
Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), University P.O. Box 63, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
Photo editor  
 
G.H. Schmelzer
PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
Correct citation of this article  
 Oteng-Amoako, A.A. & Essien, C., 2011. Anopyxis klaineana (Pierre) Engl. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. Lemmens, R.H.M.J., Louppe, D. & Oteng-Amoako, A.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>. Accessed .



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General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Timber use
Fuel use
Medicinal use



Anopyxis klaineana
wild



Anopyxis klaineana
Anopyxis klaineana



Anopyxis klaineana
Anopyxis klaineana



Anopyxis klaineana
Anopyxis klaineana



Anopyxis klaineana
Anopyxis klaineana



Anopyxis klaineana
Anopyxis klaineana



Anopyxis klaineana
Anopyxis klaineana



Anopyxis klaineana
Anopyxis klaineana



Anopyxis klaineana
wood in transverse section



Anopyxis klaineana
wood in tangential section



Anopyxis klaineana
wood in radial section


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