Asteropeia rhopaloides

Botanical Description

Asteropeia rhopaloides is an evergreen tree usually growing up to 25 metres tall, exceptionally to 30 metres. The bole is up to 75cm in diameter[ 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 is harvested from the wild for local use of its timber. The tree is facing two main threats. It is not tolerant to disturbance and is suffering from habitat loss because of shifting cultivation. In addition, unsustainable selective exploitation of the tree for timber is greatly reducing the population, with a predicted future decline in numbers of 50 - 80%. 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. ].