Croton megalocarpus

Botanical Description

Croton megalocarpus is a deciduous tree with a dense, spreading, rather flat crown; it can grow up to 35 metres tall. The unbuttressed, cylindrical bole can be up to 120cm in diameter and unbranched for up to 20 metres[ 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. , 392 Title Indigenous multipurpose trees of Tanzania. Publication Author Hines. D.A. & Eckman. K. Publisher Year 1993 ISBN 0-9697075-0-9 Description A simple handbook with information on over 50 species of trees found in Tanzania giving details of environmental requirements, cultivation needs, uses etc. It can be downloaded from the Internet. ]. Croton megalocarpus is a multipurpose tree that is important for local people as a source of timber, firewood and medicines. It is often harvested from the wild and is also cultivated, becoming an important component of agroforestry systems in East Africa. It provides shade and shelter in plantations and gardens, where it also yields good mulch material. A very ornamental tree, it is grown in gardens and along roads to provide shade[ 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. ]. In recent years, the tree has gained interest for large-scale planting programmes, mainly in Kenya and Tanzania, as a commercial poultry feed and bio-fuel crop with low agro-ecological demands. Most of the plantations are still in the pilot stage of development[ 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. ]. As an oil producer for bio-fuel, it is comparable to jatropha (Jatropha curcas), which has become the focus of large-scale planting programmes in several tropical countries on account of its potential as a bio-fuel crop with low agro-ecological demands[ 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. ].