Alstonia boonei
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Alstonia
Species:
A. boonei
Binomial name
Alstonia boonei

Alstonia boonei is a very large, deciduous, tropical-forest tree belonging to the Dogbane Family (Apocynaceae). It is native to tropical West Africa, with a range extending into Ethiopia and Tanzania. Its common name in the English timber trade is cheese wood, pattern wood or stool wood[2] (see Ashanti Empire golden stool) while its common name in the French timber trade is emien[1] (derived from the vernacular of the Ivory Coast).

The wood is fine-grained, lending itself to detailed carving. Like many other members of the Apocynaceae (a family rich in toxic and medicinal species), A. boonei contains alkaloids and yields latex.[3]

Description

Alstonia boonei is a tall forest tree, which can reach 45 metres (148 ft) in height and 3 m (9.8 ft) in girth, the bole being cylindrical and up to 27 m (89 ft) in height with high, narrow, deep-fluted buttresses. On the Plateaux Batekes in Congo (Kinshasa) these trees have greatly swollen bases like those of the Bald Cypress and Water Tupelo.[4] The leaves are borne in whorls at the nodes, the leaf shape is oblanceolate, with the apex rounded to acuminate and the lateral veins (see Leaf#Venation) prominent and almost at right angles to the midrib. The flowers are yellowish-white and borne in lax terminal cymes. The fruits are pendulous, paired, slender follicles up to 16 centimetres (6.3 in) long, containing seeds bearing a tuft of silky, brown floss at either end to allow dispersal by the wind. The latex is white and abundant.

References

  1. 1 2 Hills, R. (2019). "Alstonia boonei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T60760752A60760767. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T60760752A60760767.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Alstonia boonei". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  3. ↑ Burkhill H.M. The Useful Plants of Tropical West Africa (second edition) vol.1 (Families A-D) pp. 138–140 pub. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew 1985 ISBN 0 947643 01 X
  4. ↑ La Flore et la Vegetation de l'Afrique Tropical p.209
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