Alstonia boonei
Alstonia boonei
Safety & Hazards
The latex is dangerous to the eyes and can cause blindness[1].
Cultivation Details
A plant of the moist tropics, where it can be found at elevations up to 1,200 metres. It is found in areas where the mean annual rainfall is within the range 1,500 - 2,000mm[2]. Mature trees require a sunny position, but younger trees are more shade tolerant[3]. Grows best in a moist but well-drained soil[2]. Plants are often found growing in areas where the soil is inundated for part of the year[2]. The branches are somewhat brittle, so the plant requires a position sheltered from strong winds[3]. A fairly fast-growing tree, it can reach a height of 2 metres within its first year of growth and 10 year old trees can be 15 metres tall with a bole 25cm in diameter[3]. The tree coppices readily[3].
Propagation
Seed - it has a hard seedcoat and scarification before sowing can speed up germination and increase the germination rate from 30% to 85%[3]. Scarification can usually be done by pouring a small amount of warm water on the seeds and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Alstonia+boonei>
Pollinators
Bees, Butterflies, Wasps, Beetles
References
- [1]The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. — Burkil. H. M. · Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. · 1985 - 2004 ↩︎Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
- [2]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
- [3]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
- [4]Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607. — Chudnoff. Martin. · USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin. · 1984 ↩︎Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics.
- [5]Tropix 7 — CIRAD · http://tropix.cirad.fr/en ↩︎An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.