Pterocarpus erinaceus
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Blooming Pterocarpus erinaceus |
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Pterocarpus erinaceus is a species of plant from the subfamily of the Schmetterlingsblütler (Faboideae) within the family of the Leguminosae (Fabaceae). Pterocarpus eraniceus is one of 35 Pterocarpus species and is known under the English trade names 'Kosso', 'Vène' and African Rosewood.
description
In Pterocarpus erinaceus is a tree to reach 1 meter, the stature heights of up to 12 meters and trunk diameter of. Larger specimens form light buttress roots. The black-gray, cube-shaped bark is red in the cut and flakes off in thick, 7-10 cm pieces. The branches are gray and smooth, the young twigs have short hairs.
The alternate leaves are pinnate unpaired and up to 30 cm long. The short-stalked leaflets are up to 11 cm long and are mostly elliptical to ovate, round at the base and blunt at the tip or only slightly pointed or indented. The edge is whole and often wavy. The leaflets have very short hairs on the underside and have a very fine, thin vein. The stipules fall off early.
The terminal or axillary paniculate inflorescences are up to 20 cm long. The branches, side axes and the rhachis of the inflorescences are densely hairy, short brownish. The hermaphrodite and five-fold flowers have slender stalks that are longer than the hairy calyx, which is broadly cup-shaped. The asymmetrical butterfly flowers are yellow and the articulated petals are very wrinkled with reddish and streaky sap marks . Flowering time is from November to February.
The fruits are flat wing nuts , they are broadly winged at the edge and in the middle with strong bristles, spines. They contain up to four kidney-shaped and reddish-brown seeds.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22.
Spread & Protection
Pterocarpus erinaceus is widespread in the savannahs of the Sudan and Guinea zones in tropical West Africa. The species has been subject to the internationally applicable Washington Convention on Endangered Species since January 2, 2017. The reason for the inclusion in the list of protected woods is the intensive overexploitation in the distribution areas, such as B. Guinea-Bissau or Nigeria .
Wood description
Macroscopically
The growth zone boundaries within the annual rings are indistinct or not recognizable. The heartwood is brown to yellow, with dark streaks (brownish-purple). The color of the light sapwood is clearly distinct from the heartwood. The wood has no characteristic odor and is heavy and hard. It is straight to slightly twisted .
Wood pattern Pterocarpus erinaceus
Microscopic
The wood is semicircular to scattered pores, the early wood pore ring being arranged in multiple rows and the pores themselves grouped. The rays are single-row and arranged in a multi-storey building. The axial parenchyma is often divided into bands and these parenchyma bands are significantly wider than the wood rays.
Radial section
Tangential cut
cross-section
use
Wood
The African rosewood is also known as "African rosewood " or Kosso and Muninga and is used both indoors and outdoors. It is used in the construction sector as wood for posts, rods and pegs, as well as for window and door frame construction. In the interior, it is considered a very popular furniture wood due to its attractive appearance and is processed into chairs, cupboards, tables, but also wall cladding and floors. China is the main importer among the importing countries, as the type of wood u. a. is very popular in Hongmu furniture construction.
fodder
The green leaves and unripe seed pods are very tasty cattle feed. Even the fallen, withered leaves are eaten by sheep, goats and cattle. In parts of West Africa, foliage is cut down at the end of the dry season and used as fodder or sold on in markets. Some livestock farmers plant this type of tree to provide an alternative source of feed for their livestock.
Cinema and tannins
When the bark is cut, a blood-red juice is secreted, the so-called " Kino ", "Kino de Gambie" or "Dragonblood". It will u. a. used to dye cotton. In West Africa the dried powdered cinema is used to glaze fabrics by threshing it with a mallet. Fabrics are also dipped into the ground dye mixed with water, dried and then rubbed in palm oil to create a dark purple color. The wood itself is sold in markets as staining wood. Flat pieces of logs, cinematic pieces of root or balls made from pieces of root or bark formed with palm oil are offered as hair or body care products or as dyes. The bark is occasionally used in tanning.
Medical use
The leaves of the tree are used in the preparation of laxatives and fever medicines. The bark is used as a wound dressing for chronic ulcers, for the treatment of ringworm , gonorrhea or for gargling for tooth or oral problems. Bark and cinema are also used for urethral discharge and as a constipation for severe diarrhea. The grated root is mixed with tobacco and smoked in a pipe as a cough medicine.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c R. WJKeay, CFA Onochie, DP Stanfield: Nigerian Trees Volume II . Ed .: Federal Department of Forest Research Ibadan Nigeria. Nigerian National Press Ltd., 1964.
- ↑ a b M. Arbonnier: Arbres, arbustes et lianes des zones sèches d'Afrique de l'Ouest. CIRAD, MNHN, 2002, ISBN 2-85653-546-1 .
- ↑ Information on the implementation of the resolutions of the 17th CITES Conference of the Parties (September / October 2016) with regard to rosewood and rosewood species. at BFN, accessed December 19, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Gerald Koch: Wood species database “macroHOLZdata”, developed in 2008 at the Thünen Institute for Wood Research in Hamburg, available on CD from the Thünen Institute, contact details: Gerald Koch, Thünen Institute.
- ↑ a b c d F. EM Booth, GE Wickens: Non-timber uses of selected arid zone trees and shrubs in Africa . In: FAO (Ed.): FAO Conservation Guide . tape 19 . Rome 1988, ISBN 92-5102745-5 .
- ↑ The Rosewood Racket. at Environment Investigation Agency - EIA Global, accessed December 19, 2017 .
Web links
- Pterocarpus erinaceus . In: U. Brunken, M. Schmidt, S. Dressler, T. Janssen, A. Thiombiano, G. Zizka: West African plants - A Photo Guide. Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt am Main 2008.
- FAO Species profile on fao.org.
- Tervuren Xylarium Wood Database at Royal Museum for Central Africa - Tervuren - Belgium.
- Pterocarpus erinaceus from Useful Tropical Plants, accessed November 20, 2018.
- Pterocarpus erinaceus from Pl @ ntUse, accessed November 20, 2018.