Heritiera utilis
| Heritiera utilis | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Heritiera utilis | ||||||||||||
| (Sprague) Sprague |
Heritiera utilis is a species in the genus Heritiera in the subfamily of sterculioideae (Sterculioideae) within the family of the Malvaceae (Malvaceae). Different common names or trade names are given for Heritiera utilis , for example Niangon , Nyankom , Red cedar , Cola cedar , Whismore ( English ) or Niangon ( French ).
description
Appearance and leaf
Heritiera utilis grows as an evergreen , medium-sized to large tree and reaches heights of 35, rarely up to 45 meters. The trunk is cylindrical, but often curved, up to a height of 20, rarely up to 30 meters knot-free and reaches a trunk diameter of 150 to 300 centimeters. There are tall, thin and arched as well as stilt-like buttress roots (especially in swamp forests). The bark is light brown, thin and smooth. The treetop is compact, round and, seen from below, appears bronze in color.
There is epigeic germination . The seedling has a 10 to 15 centimeter long hypocotyl , which is especially scaled in the upper area, and a 2 to 3 centimeter long epicotyl . The two cotyledons ( cotyledons ) are obovate with a length of 6 to 7 centimeters and three-veined from their base.
The alternate leaves are arranged in a petiole and a leaf blade. The petiole is 1 to 25 inches long. The leaf blade is finger-shaped on older specimens and has three to seven obovate or elliptical to lanceolate, short-stalked, entire-margined leaflets, and in seedlings up to the tenth leaf is simple and elliptical. The leaf blade is 5 to 30 centimeters long and 2 to 10 centimeters wide (up to 60 × 20 in young, up to 4–5-year-old specimens; then decreasing). The base of the spade is wedge-shaped and the tip is pointed to tail. The underside of the leaf is dense and covered with bronze-colored scaly hairs ( trichomes ). There is pinnate veins , with 8 to 18 leaf veins on each side of the central vein. The approximately 0.5 centimeter long stipules fall off early.
Inflorescence, flower and fruit
Heritiera utilis is monoecious gemischgeschlechtlich monoecious . The axillary, narrow paniculate inflorescence is up to 20 centimeters long and hairy reddish-brown. The approximately 1 centimeter long bracts fall off early. The slender flower stalk is 0.5 to 1 centimeter long.
The unisexual flower is radial symmetry and four or five-fold with a simple flower cover, the petals are missing. The whitish to cream colored flowers are 0.5 centimeters long. The four or five sepals are fused bell-shaped up to about half their length and covered with star hair. The ring-shaped disc is orange in color. In the male flowers, the stamens have grown together to form a tube. In the female flowers the four to six upper carpels are only loosely connected.
The split fruit ( collective fruit ) contains one to six woody wing nuts . The nut fruit is about 2.5 centimeters long and about 1.5 centimeters wide and has a relatively long wing with a length of about 8 centimeters and a width of 3 centimeters.
Chromosome set
Chromosome number is 2n = 32.
ecology
Numerous insects infest Heritiera utilis . For example, the larvae of Anaphe venata eat the leaves of the individuals.
Occurrence
Heritiera utilis thrives in the West African forest area. The distribution area ranges from Sierra Leone via Liberia and the Ivory Coast to Ghana . Furthermore, Heritiera utilis was found in the West African savannas in the remains of evergreen rainforests , for example at the foot of the Loma Mountains and in riparian forests in the savannah of the Ivory Coast.
Heritiera utilis occurs in evergreen forest, damp semi-evergreen forest and gallery forest , also in secondary forest , but only rarely at altitudes above 500 meters. Heritiera utilis is often found along waterways and in swamps and is very sensitive to drought. The best trunk dimensions occur in well-drained locations. Heritiera utilis requires an annual rainfall of 1500 to 2500 mm. Loamy to sandy soils seem to be preferred. Heritiera utilis tends to be uneven in its frequency, locally it is very common, otherwise it occurs only sporadically. Heritiera utilis reaches the middle and upper floors of the forest, but is not a tree that protrudes far beyond the canopy.
In Liberia there is an average density of two specimens over 40 centimeters in trunk diameter and 0.5 specimens with over 60 centimeters trunk diameter per hectare. Surveys were conducted in Ivory Coast in the late 1950s and reported an average of five usable trees per hectare; since then, however, the stocks have been overexploited.
Danger
In the Red List of Threatened Species of IUCN in 1998 Heritiera utilis classified as "vulnerable" = "endangered." The IUCN deems it necessary to collect new data. The reasons for the endangerment seem to be unsustainable and excessive use.
Taxonomy
The first description was in 1908 under the name ( Basionym ) Triplochiton utile by Thomas Archibald Sprague in Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information Kew , p. 257. The new combination to Heritiera utilis (Sprague) Sprague was also published in 1909 by Sprague in Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information Kew , p. 348 after he had also received herbarium material with female flowers. Another synonym for Heritiera utilis (Sprague) Sprague is Tarrietia utilis (Sprague) Sprague .
harvest
After the felling (usually in the dry season), the trunks are quickly stripped to prevent insect infestation. Insecticides are sometimes used. Also fungicides are used to discoloration and wood to prevent damage from fungal degradation. The logs are transported from the stock to sawmills and sorted. The wood is either cut on site or exported as round wood .
use
Wood
The wood from Heritiera utilis is traded as niangon and can be used as replacement wood for entandrophragma and khaya .
It is suitable for: exterior and interior construction, paneling , floors, molded parts, carpentry, furniture, stairs in interior construction, shipbuilding ( deck planks ) and can be used as a veneer for plywood . In Africa it is popular for making canoes , oars and planks for building houses. It was also used for roof shingles .
Further use
The bark of Heritiera utilis is suitable for tanning leather. The wood is also said to have anti- diarrheal effects in the Ivory Coast . Furthermore, an infusion from the bark, applied externally, is said to act against skin diseases caused by leprosy . Applied internally, an aphrodisiac effect is described.
The seeds are described as edible. An oil is obtained from the seeds . The vegetable oil can also be used as an aphrodisiac . Ground seeds can help against abscesses .
literature
- AJGH Kostermans: A Monograph of the Genus Heritiera, Aiton, (Sterculariaceae). In: Reinwardtia. Vol. 4, Part 4, 1959, pp. 465-583, online (PDF; 3.2 MB).
Web links
- Datasheet with photos at Fauna & Flora of Liberia .
- Datasheet at African Plant Database of the CJB = Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques & South African National Biodiversity Institute with distribution map created from different data .
- HG Richter, MJ Dallwitz: Data sheet for commercial timber from DELTA .
- JSTOR Global Plants data sheet .
- Data sheet at Useful Tropical Plants .
- Data sheet at The Virtual Field Herbarium ( Memento from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o K. A. Adam: Heritiera utilis (Sprague) Sprague. (No longer available online.) In: PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l'Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. 2005, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on January 15, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ PROTA: Growth and Development.
- ↑ a b Heritiera utilis in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
- ↑ a b Heritiera utilis in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014.3. Listed by: W. Hawthorne, 1998. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
- ^ Sprague scanned in 1909 at biodiversitylibrary.org .
- ↑ Heritiera utilis at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed January 15, 2015.
