English: Cape Mahogany
Region: tropical Africa, Cote D'Ivoire to Ethiopia, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and S. Africa.
Habitat: transition zone between forest-savannah mosaic and moist evergreen forest; avoiding the moister areas; elevations of 500 to 1,600 metres; sensitive to frost; succeeds in full sun and dappled to fairly deep shade; best in humus-rich, fertile, moist soils; tolerant of fire.
Culture: seed yields per tree in Mozambique are about 20 - 25 kg year, up to 180 kg
Content: limonoids, evodulone and prieurianin derivatives, known as antifeedants and growth regulators of insects; seeds oil, palmitic acid 34%, stearic acid 3%, oleic acid 51%, linoleic acid 11%, linolenic acid 1%
Use: food, medicine and various commodities; seeds for pharmaceutical products, making soaps, candles, cosmetics; ornamental, beautiful shady avenue tree; bark, toxic for fish poison; fruit, raw or cooked, as a vegetable, for sweet drinks, sauces; seed, boiled as a side dish; seeds oil for cooking even though it has a bitter flavour; seedcoat is poisonous; seed oil for body ointment, hair oil, to make candles, soap, cosmetics; wood for making carvings, indoor furniture, household utensils, shelving, construction, dugout canoes; wood is used for fuel, charcoal.
BotanyEvergreen, dioecious tree; dense, spreading crown; up to 30 to 40 metres tall.
Stem: cylindrical; up to 100 to 200 cm in diameter; slightly buttressed; hheartwood is pale brown to pink; sapwood whitish, darkens with age; wood is not durable and is subject to borers; easily worked; polishes well; bark is very toxic; heartwood is pale brown to pink; sapwood whitish, darkens with age, exposure, being oiled; wood grain is generally straight, texture medium coarse, has a distinct figure, not durable, subject to borers, easily worked, polishes well.Flowers: unisexual, dioecious.
Fruit: when 10 years old.