Plant Resources of Tropical Africa

Alstonia boonei

Alstonia boonei belongs to the family Apocynaceae and is a large deciduous tree up to 45 m tall, with bole branchless for up to 25 m and up to 100(–140) cm in diameter, fluted at the base or with steep buttresses. It occurs from Senegal and Gambia to western Ethiopia and Uganda, where it is found in primary as well as secondary, moist evergreen to dry semi-deciduous forest up to 1200 m altitude.
The lightweight and creamy white wood is used for light construction, interior joinery, moulding, boats, furniture, household implements, boxes, crates, matches, pencils, sculptures, and for veneer and plywood. In Ghana it is used for the famous Asante stools, and in Nigeria for sound boxes of musical instruments of the Yoruba people. The wood is only occasionally exported from African countries. It is also used as firewood. The bark is important in traditional medicine to treat various diseases. In local markets in West and Central Africa it is often amongst the most common plant materials sold as crude drugs. The latex and leaves are sometimes used medicinally. Alstonia boonei is a useful shade tree for coffee, tea and banana plantations.

Alstonia boonei has potential to serve as a substitute of African whitewood (Triplochiton scleroxylon K.Schum.), which is an important low-weight timber species in West Africa. It may be useful as an auxiliary plant in agriculture because it is easy to propagate, grows moderately fast and develops a taproot which does not interfere with the superficial root system of the crop. The effectiveness of the bark in the treatment of malaria is controversial, and more research is still needed to confirm the claimed medicinal activities. Cutting Alstonia boonei trees for timber and collection of the bark for medicinal purposes may cause serious threats to local populations.

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