Afzelia Species, African Oak, African Mahogany

Afzelia africana
REGION: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Mali,...Read More Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.
Products & uses
Wood hard, heavy, durable, termite-proof, light brown to red-brown in colour, excellent timber, difficult to work, though. Used in carpentry, canoe and house building, furniture making..... Sawdust irritating producing sneezing. Used in human medicine :febrifugal, analgaesic, anti-hemorrhageic, laxative, emetic, emmenagogic and aphrodisiac, the foliage is good cattle forage, particularly before the regrowth of grass in the early rainy season. Wild animals browse the arils, and antelopes eat the young shoots. Pods are rich in ashes used for making soap. As the leaves are rich in nitrogen they are used to enrich the soil. Although locally thought to be inhabited by spirits,it is the hunter’s favourite tree.