Afzelia
Afzelia
Genus of legumes
Afzelia is a genus of plants in family Fabaceae. The thirteen species all are trees, native to tropical Africa or Asia.
| Afzelia | |
|---|---|
| Afzelia africana fruit and seed - MHNT | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Detarioideae |
| Tribe: | Afzelieae |
| Genus: | Afzelia |
| Species | |
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The genus name of Afzelia is in honour of Adam Afzelius (1750–1837), a Swedish botanist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. [1]
Afzelia is closely related to, and the sister taxon of Intsia. Both Afzelia and Intsia, along with Brodriguesia for the clade Afzelieae within the legume subfamily Detarioideae[2].
The earliest definitive record of Afzelia in the fossil record is a well-preserved, compression fossil of a leaflet (with cuticle) from the late Oligocene (27.23 Ma) Guang River flora of northwestern Ethiopia (Amhara), named Afzelia afro-arabica"[3]. Numerous other records, some which may represent Afzelia (or potentially Intsia), are known fossil wood occurrences from the Paleogene and Neogene of Africa and Asia and are included in the form genus, Pahudioxylon[4][5][6].
Afzelia species are used primarily for wood, though some species also have medicinal uses. The timber is most commonly traded under the collective name "doussie", as well as under name "afzelia." African species are sometimes traded as "African mahogany" or "pod mahogany", despite the genus being botanically unrelated to Meliaceae (mahogany.)[7]
The seeds are red and black and are used as beads.
The wood is often used as the surface material for outdoor velodromes.
The highly figured wood of the Asian species, Afzelia xylocarpa, is sold as Afzelia xylay. The seeds and bark of this species are used as medicine.
The dense and wavy wood of an Afzelia africana is used in ship-building.[8]
- Burkhardt, Lotte (2018). Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition [Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2018. ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- National Geographic TV, Arab Treasure Ship. Viewed 2013-01-13.
- ILDIS world database of legumes
- Doussie technological characteristics, Tropix program, CIRAD Agricultural Research for Development Countries
Media related to Afzelia at Wikimedia Commons
