Triplochiton scleroxylon
Species of tree
Triplochiton scleroxylon is a tree of the genus Triplochiton of the family Malvaceae. The timber is known by the common names African whitewood, abachi, obeche (in Nigeria), wawa (in Ghana), ayous (in Cameroon) and sambawawa (in Ivory Coast). The tree is the official state tree of Ekiti State, Nigeria.
01Description
The species is distributed over the tropical areas of West Africa and Central Africa.
02Uses
The timber yielded is typically pale yellow and is moderately soft and light for a hardwood.
The timber is used in the manufacture of veneer, furniture, picture frames and mouldings. It is also used by guitar makers. Gibson and Fender Japan have used the wood to produce limited edition guitars.
The tree is a host of the African silk moth, Anaphe venata, whose caterpillars feed on the leaves and spin cocoons which are then used to make silk.
The wood is exploited in its natural habitat, a harvest that is unsustainable in some areas. However, it remains classed as 'least concern' on the IUCN Red List.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Triplochiton scleroxylon”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Triplochiton scleroxylon K.Schum. (GH0301).jpg by Collector(s): Amarh, Amponsah Identifier: Gabriel Ameka, Public domain
- The National Archives UK - CO 1069-20-19.jpg by The National Archives UK - Flickr account, OGL v1.0
- Ayous veneer (image by Dr. G-Lignum) (cropped).jpg by G-Lignum, CC BY 4.0
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