African teak
Milicia excelsa

Family: Moraceae

What it is like

A large tree. It grows to 50 m tall. The bark is pale whitish grey. It is rough and scaly. It has buttresses. The trunk is straight. The leaves are simple and alternate. They are large and oblong. They are 12-18 cm long by 6.5-9.5 cm wide. They are green on top and paler and finely hairy underneath. The old leaves become bright yellow. The base of the leaf is lobed. The edges are wavy. The male and female flowers occur separately on separate trees. The male spike is long and slender. It is 6-14 cm long by 0.5 cm wide. The flowers are white. The female spikes are short and thick. They are 2-3 cm long by 1 cm wide. They are greenish. The fruit is a small nutlet. It has fleshy lobes around it. These occur close together like a mulberry.

There are 2 Milicia species. They occur in tropical Africa. It is an important timber tree.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows in low altitude evergreen forest. It grows in the transitional areas between dense forest and grassland. It can grow in a wide range of conditions in tropical regions. It can grow in arid places. in Zimbabwe it grows between 300-500 m above sea level. In Nigeria it is recorded up to 1,360 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 11-12.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa (country/location of origin), Angola, Asia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Congo DR, Congo R, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, India, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Southern Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The ripe fruit are eaten. The fruit juice is used for flavouring. The cooked young leaves are eaten. They are used in soup.

Edible parts

Leaves, fruit, leaves

How it is grown

Plants are grown by fresh seeds. It takes 2-3 weeks and needs light. The fruit are soaked for 6 hours in water and then the seeds squeezed out.

It grows quickly.

Its other names

Local names

Abeng, Ala, Bang, Bangi, Bangui, Diedie, Iroko, Kambala, Leke, Mucuco, Murritulula, Muule, Mvule, Ngunde, Nkamba, Nkambala, Odum, Tule, Uloko

Synonyms

Chlorophora excelsa (Welw.) Benth.; Maclura excelsa (Welw.) Bureau;