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Lophira alata
Ochnaceae FAMILY Vulnerable

Lophira alata

Lophira alata

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
Growth—

Grows best in a sunny position[1]. Plants are sensitive to drought[2]. It is estimated that is takes 220 years for a tree to reach a girth of 2.7 metres in Nigeria[2]. Light gaps in the forest are necessary for successful regeneration, as seed germination does not occur in shady understorey[2].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe since the seed has a short viability[1]. Even sown fresh, germination rates are usually less than 50%, dropping to 5% after 3 months[1]. Germination takes 3 - 5 weeks[1]. To improve growth in the nursery, it is recommended to add soil from under an established tree to the substrate to ensure development of mycorrhizal fungi[1]. Air layering is possible. A rooting percentage of marcots of more than 60% has been obtained with cow dung as substrate and IBA (0.8%) as growth hormone[1]. Stem cuttings are also possible[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Lophira+alata>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [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. [2]Contribution to an evaluation of tree species using the new CITES Listing Criteria — UNEP-WCMC; Cambridge. · 1999 · http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/species/tree_study/ ↩︎A document produced by UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre in 1999. It contains fact sheets on more than 200 tree species from around the globe.
  3. [3]African Flowering Plants Database — Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques. · http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php ↩︎Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
  4. [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. [5]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  6. [6]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.
  7. [7]Tropix 7 — CIRAD · http://tropix.cirad.fr/en ↩︎An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.