Afzelia

Afzelia is a genus of plants in family Fabaceae. The thirteen species all are trees, native to tropical Africa or Asia.

The genus name of Afzelia is in honour of Adam Afzelius (1750–1837), a Swedish botanist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus.<ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Pn</ref>

Evolutionary history

Afzelia is closely related to, and the sister taxon of Intsia. Both Afzelia and Intsia, along with Brodriguesia form the clade Afzelieae within the legume subfamily Detarioideae.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

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.<ref name="Pan Jacobs Herendeen 2010">Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.<ref name="Pan Jacobs Herendeen 2010"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Species

12 species are accepted.<ref name = powo/>

• Afzelia africana Template:Small – western tropical Africa to Uganda
• Afzelia bella Template:Small – western and west-central tropical Africa
• Afzelia bipindensis Template:Small – Ivory Coast and Nigeria to Uganda and Angola
• Afzelia cambodensis Template:Small – Cambodia
• Afzelia javanica Template:Small – Sumatra and Java
• Afzelia martabanica Template:Small – Myanmar
• Afzelia pachyloba Template:Small – Nigeria to Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Afzelia parviflora Template:Small – West Africa (Liberia to Côte d'Ivoire) and Angola
• Afzelia peturei Template:Small – Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia
• Afzelia quanzensis Template:Small – Somalia to Angola and South Africa
• Afzelia rhomboidea Template:Small – Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the Philippines
• Afzelia xylocarpa Template:Small – Indo-China

Uses

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.)<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

The seeds are red and black and are used as beads.Template:Fact

The wood is often used as the surface material for outdoor velodromes.Template:Fact

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.Template:Fact

The dense and wavy wood of an Afzelia africana is used in ship-building.<ref>National Geographic TV, Arab Treasure Ship. Viewed 2013-01-13.Template:Better source</ref>

External links

• ILDIS world database of legumes
• Doussie technological characteristics, Tropix program, CIRAD Agricultural Research for Development Countries
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