English: African oak.
Region: West Africa, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Gabon, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo Republic.
Habitat: evergreen and moist semi-deciduous forest; occasionally in secondary forest;
Use: timber, as a teak-substitute, for dock-gates, bridges, naval construction, key-parts of ocean-going boats such as keels, sawing into planks, beams, joists, boxes, for house-posts; pesticide; driving off bees.
BotanyLarge tree; 36 metres or more tall; dioecious.
Stem: straight; 20 metres tall; 4.8 metres in girth; base has heavy root swellings or swollen root spurs, extending in spreading surface roots; thick heavy buttresses up to 1 metre tall; wood very heavy, hard, tough, strong, durable in contact with water, comparable to teak, takes a good polish; heartwood is dark brown to reddish brown, the sap-wood lighter.