Cheese wood, Pattern wood
ZZ Alstonia boonei
Family: Apocynaceae
What it is like
A tree. It grows 25-30 m tall. The trunk can be 1.4 m across. It can have buttresses 8 m tall. The leaves are in rings of 4-9. They are 8-19 cm long by 4-8 cm wide. The flowers are in a compound group 8-23 cm long at the ends of branches. The fruit are 2 long follicles 22-57 cm long by 0.2-0.4 cm wide. They are hairy. There are many seeds in 2 rows.
The bark is used for medicine.
Where it is found
It is a tropical plant.
Countries/locations it is found in
Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa
How it is used for food
Edible parts
Medicine, spice