Tieghemella heckelii

Botanical Description

Baku is a magnificent tree, the largest and most attractive of the forest of many parts of western Africa[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description 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/ ]. It grows 50 metres tall or more, with a square bole 25 metres or more long that is angular at the base, ridged but not buttressed, cylindrical[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description 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/ ]. An important local food source, its seeds are commonly collected from the wild. The tree is also heavily exploited for its timber, which is traded internationally[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The tree has been planted on a very small scale (almost 6 ha), mainly for seed oil production, in western Côte d’Ivoire with an average density of 357 stems/ha[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. It is often planted at a density of about 120 trees/ha, in association with coffee, cocoa, rubber or rice, and at field margins and in secondary forest following clearance of undergrowth[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. Overexploitation in some countries is leading to serious population declines, notably in Ghana and in Liberia, where there is a possibility of the species becoming extinct. Regeneration may also be limited in parts of its range because of the reduction in elephant numbers and other seed dispersers. The plant is classified as 'Endangered' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].