English: Umbrella tree
Genus: 1 species.
Region: India, West and Central Africa, Liberia, the Congo and Angola to Uganda; introduced in Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia.
Habitat: submontane rainforest, humid forests, colonising cleared areas and flourishing as secondary growth. It is often present in the border zone between savannah and forest.
Culture: invasive; previous root mat disappears, leaf litter becomes thinner, soil pH rises, biodiversity decreases.
Use: plantation tree for shade tree in coffee plantations; regeneration of destroyed forest lands; wood for construction and firewood; leaves for animal fodder; sapwood is pale; heartwood is olive-brown to deep red; wood for poles, boxes and crates; wood susceptible to damage by termites and to rotting when wet.
BotanyLarge, fast-growing semi-deciduous tree; about 30 m high; pioneer species.
Stem: straight, clear bole for the lowest third; bark greyish-brown, deeply furrowed; branches mostly horizontal, crown flat, more rounded at age.
Leaves: simple; elliptic-lanceolate; toothed margins; 6 cm to 15 cm × 2 cm to 5 cm; glossy above, a gland in each tooth; underside domatia in the axils of the secondary nerves.
Inflorescence: many-flowered cyme; up to 5 cm long.
Flowers: hermaphroditic; greenish-yellow; five calyx lobes longer than the corolla lobes; single anther.
Fruit: drupe; 3.5 cm long, green at first, turning yellow and then purple-black as it ripens.
Seed: large stone with one or two black seeds inside.
Pollination: by insects
Dispersion: by monkeys and large birds; hornbills