Sipo Mahogany
Entandrophragma utile

Family: Meliaceae

What it is like

Found in tropical Africa, Sipo Mahogany (Entandrophragma utile) is a large tree growing up to 55 m tall with blunt buttresses. The straight, cylindrical bole is usually up to 300 cm in diameter and can be branchless for up to 50 m. The bark is used in the treatment of malaria and peptic ulcers. Bark sap is used for stomach pain, kidney pain, rheumatism, eye inflammations, and otitis. Fruit valves are used as spoons. The wood is moderately heavy, soft to moderately hard, moderately durable, and resistant to various pests. It is used in joinery, interior trim, panelling, stairs, furniture, cabinet work, ship building, veneer and plywood, construction, flooring, etc.

Entandrophragma utile is a deciduous Tree growing to 45 m (147ft) by 30 m (98ft) at a slow rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. The plant is not self-fertile. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 45

Where it is found

A canopy and emergent tree, most commonly found in moist semi-deciduous forest, though it can also be found in evergreen forest.

Tropical Africa - Sierra Leone to Uganda, south to Angola.

Conservation Status: Status: Vulnerable A1cd

Countries/locations it is found in

Angola; Cameroon; Congo; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Côte d'Ivoire; Gabon; Ghana; Liberia; Nigeria; Sierra Leone; Uganda

How it is used

Food

Rating: 0

Medicine

Rating: 2

The bark is used in traditional medicine. It is used to treat malaria and is claimed to heal peptic ulcers. The bark sap is taken internally, or used as a wash, to treat stomach-ache and kidney pain. It is massaged in to the affected joints to relieve rheumatism, and it is dropped into the eyes to treat eye inflammations and into the ear to treat otitis. A massage with a bark maceration is considered useful as tonic and stimulant. The charred and pulverized bark, mixed with salt and palm oil, is rubbed into scarifications to treat headache. Research has shown the presence of a range of medically active substances in the bark, including the lactone entandrophragmin, tetranortriterpenoids called utilins, heptanortriterpenoids called entilins, methyl angolensate and an ergosterol derivative An aqueous bark extract has shown significant protection against peptic ulcers. This supports the traditional medicinal use of the bark against peptic ulcers in Nigeria. Bark extracts have shown fungicidal activity against Pyricularia oryzae. Some entilins have shown moderate in-vitro antimalarial activity against chloroquine-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum.

Antirheumatic: Treats rheumatism.

Kidney: Used in the treatment of kidney diseases

Malaria: Treats malaria - an acute febrile illness caused by Plasmodium parasites spread to people through the bites of mosquitos.

Ophthalmic: Treats eye complaints.

Stimulant: Excites or quickens activity of the physiological processes. Faster acting than a tonic but differing from a narcotic in that it does not give a false sense of well-being.

Tonic: Improves general health. Slower acting than a stimulant, it brings steady improvement.

Other

Rating: 4

Other Uses: The fruit valves have been used as spoons. The seeds contain 30 - 54% of fat by weight. The fatty acid composition is characterized by the presence of about 30% cis-vaccenic acid, a rare isomer of oleic acid that can be used in the industrial production of nylon-11. The main fatty acid is linolenic acid (46%). The heartwood is reddish brown to purplish brown with moiré shades; it is distinctly demarcated from the 2 - 6cm wide band of pinkish white to pale brown sapwood. The grain is slightly interlocked and irregular; texture moderately fine; when seasoned it has a faint cedar-like smell. The wood is moderately heavy; soft to moderately hard; moderately durable, being moderately resistant to powder-post beetle, pinhole borer, termite and marine borer attacks. It air dries somewhat slowly, and may be liable to splitting and distortion; once dry, it is moderately stable in service. The wood saws and works fairly easily with both hand and machine tools, with only slight blunting effects on cutting edges; finishing usually gives good results, with a nice polish, but the use of a filler may be needed; it is not liable to splitting in nailing and screwing, with good holding properties; gluing, staining and polishing properties are satisfactory, but the steam bending properties are poor. The wood is highly valued for exterior and interior joinery, interior trim, panelling, stairs, furniture, cabinet work, ship building, veneer and plywood. It is suitable for construction, flooring, vehicle bodies, boxes, crates, carvings and turnery. The bole is traditionally used for dug-out canoes. Wood that can not be utilized as timber may be used as firewood and for charcoal production.

Charcoal: Used for fuel, drawing, deodorant, filter, fertilizer etc.

Fuel: Usually wood, plant materials that have been mentioned as being a good fuel.

Fungicide: Arrests the growth of, or kills, fungi.

Furniture: A few miscellaneous uses that do not fit easily into other headings.

Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.

How it is grown

A tree of low to medium elevations in the moist tropics, where it can be found at elevations up to 1,400 metres. It is found mainly in regions with an annual rainfall in the range 1,400 - 2,500 mm, where there is a dry period of 2 - 4 months and a mean annual temperature of 24 - 26°c. Prefers well-drained localities on deep soils. The species is characterized as a non-pioneer light demander and is generally noted to be more light-demanding and tolerant of dry conditions than other embers of the genus. Natural regeneration is often scarce in the forest, although it has also been reported as abundant. Regeneration in large forest gaps is reportedly poor, but seedlings perform well in small forest gaps. Saplings are more light-demanding than those of other members of the genus. Young seedlings grow slowly; root development takes considerable time. In Ghana, seedlings reached only up to 1 metre tall after 4 years, in silviculturally treated forest up to 1.5 metres. Under nursery conditions, however, seedlings can reach 40 cm tall in 6 months and 75 cm in one year. Fruit production starts when trees have reached bole diameters above 50 cm, and this has implications for forest management; minimum felling diameters should be well above 50 cm to allow natural regeneration. A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Propagating it: Seed - pre-soaking the seeds in warm water is reported to improve germination. Fresh seeds have a germination rate of about 75%, whilst that of 3-month-old seeds is still about 60%. The seeds are liable to rotting and should hardly be covered with soil. Germination starts 13 - 19 days after sowing. Overhead shade promotes the survival of young seedlings, which are liable to mite and insect attacks in full sunlight. The seedlings are physiologically well adapted to heavy shade and make efficient use of low light intensities - they usually die when growing under full light conditions. Seedlings growing in 10 - 12% of full sunlight maintained high growth rates, and an irradiance of 25% of full sunlight is recorded to optimize growth of young seedlings. When seedlings are grown in pots, it should be taken into account that they develop a long taproot; the roots should be cut back several times in the 1 - 2-year-long period that the seedlings are raised in the nursery. Seeds can be stored for about 3 months in sealed containers in a cool place, but insect damage, to which they are very susceptible, should be avoided, e.g. by adding ash. Stumps and striplings have been used for propagation, but the success rate of stumps was low.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Slow

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Sipo Mahogany

Synonyms

Entandrophragma macrocarpum A.Chev. Entandrophragma roburoides Vermoesen Entandrophragma thomasii Le