Autranella congolensis
Autranella congolensis
Safety & Hazards
The wood dust may cause serious irritation to nose, throat and eyes[1].
Cultivation Details
A slow-growing tree[1]. The fruits take 10 - 14 months to ripen. It has been reported that in the dry season many young fruits fall, long before they are ripe[1]. Natural regeneration is poor, seedlings are often rare in the wild[1]. Logs sink in water and cannot be transported by river[1].
Propagation
Seed - it has a thick and hard seed coat and shows a dormancy of 2.5 - 12 months before germinating. Germination rate may be up to 40%, but is often lower; the germination rate of depulped seeds is lowest, up to 9%. Under experimental nursery conditions, the survival rate of seedlings was 100% after 18 months. Seedlings grow slowly. After germination, growth of aerial parts stops for about 2 months, after which seedlings grow at a rate of 1cm per month, reaching an average height of 25cm after 18 months and 36cm after 29 months[1]. The seedlings are shade tolerant, but are classified as non-pioneer light demanders, preferring small gaps in the forest canopy[1]. Elephants eat the fruits and are probably the main seed dispersers. It is unknown whether seeds that have passed through elephants’ guts germinate more easily, but seeds that have not been eaten by elephants do germinate although the germination rate is low[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Autranella+congolensis>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]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.
- [2]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
- [3]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/
- [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.