Region: west tropical Africa, Guinea to DR Congo, south to north Angola.
Habitat: understorey tree in lowland high-forest; evergreen and semi-deciduous secondary jungle, on river-banks; at elevations up to 650 metres.
Content: alkaloids, tannins; roots contain limonoids; leaves contain tannins, flavonoids.
BotanyEvergreen tree with a large open spreading crown; 12 -to 20 metres tall; slow-growing, in dappled shade.
Stem: straight, cylindrical; without buttress and fluting; up to 50 cm in diameter; heartwood is pale pinkish brown to reddish brown, more or less distinctly demarcated from the whitish brown or greyish brown sapwood; wood grain is straight, texture fine to moderately coarse, moderately lightweight, soft, moderately durable, susceptible to blue stain, dry-wood borer and marine borer attacks, variable susceptible to termite attack; wood difficult to saw and work because of quickly gumming up and blunting of sawteeth and cutting edges, planes and finishes satisfactorily, producing nice back-sawn and quarter-sawn surfaces, with good nailing and gluing properties.
Use: edible oil, medicines and various commodities; tree is useful for soil protection and improvement; bark for a reddish brown dye, for dyeing cloth and hides; twigs as teeth chew-sticks; seed oil in cooking; wood for house building, piles, wood carving, masks, canoes, light flooring, joinery, interior trim, ship building, vehicle bodies, furniture, cabinet work, boxes, crates, toys, novelties, veneer, plywood, hardboard, particle board, pulpwood for paper; wood as firewood and for charcoal.