''Cassipourea malosana'' is a species of
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
native to tropical Africa.
Description
''Cassipourea malosana'' is an evergreen shrub or tree, growing to 25 or 30 meters in height, and occasionally up to 45 meters, with a rounded crown. The tree has a straight unbuttressed trunk which can be up to 60 cm in diameter and unbranched up to 20 meters from the ground. The bark is smooth and pale.
[Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2022-03-15. ] The leaves are
lanceolate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...
, 3 to 10 mm long and 1 to 5 mm wide, with a glossy upper surface and a matte underside.
[
]
Distribution and habitat
''Cassipourea malosana'' is native to the mountains of Eastern and Central Africa, from Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
through Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
, Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
, Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
, Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
, Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
, Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, Eswatini
Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
, and South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. There is an outlier population in the Cameroon Highlands
The Western High Plateau, Western Highlands or Bamenda Grassfields is a region of Cameroon characterised by high relief, cool temperatures, heavy rainfall and savanna vegetation. The region lies along the Cameroon line and consists of mounta ...
of Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
.[
''Cassipourea malosana'' is found in dry ]Afromontane
The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions ...
forests, often with African juniper (''Juniperus procera''), ''Afrocarpus
''Afrocarpus'' is a genus of conifers of the family Podocarpaceae. Two to six species are recognized. They are evergreen trees native to Africa. ''Afrocarpus'' was designated a genus in 1989, when several species formerly classified in ''Podocarp ...
'' spp., ''Podocarpus
''Podocarpus'' () is a genus of conifers, the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family, the Podocarpaceae. The name comes from Greek πούς (poús, “foot”) + καρπός (karpós, “fruit”). ''Podocarpus'' species ...
'' spp., and ''Olea
''Olea'' ( ) is a genus of about 40 species in the family Oleaceae, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Middle East, southern Europe, Africa, southern Asia, and Australasia. They are evergreen trees and shrubs, with small ...
'' spp.,[ and as an under-canopy tree in moist Afromontane forests. It is generally found between 1700 and 2600 meters elevation, and occasionally as low as 1100 meters.][
]
Uses
The tree has fine and even-textured wood, and produces hard and heavy timber. It is exploited artisanally and commercially in East Africa, and is usually harvested from the wild. It is also used for firewood.[
The tree is occasionally grown as a shade or ornamental tree, and is planted in reforestation projects and for erosion control. Its flowers are a good source of nectar for bees.][
The bark has some local medicinal uses. It is cooked in soups to restore strength, made into a tea to help remove a placenta after birth, and applied to skin to treat skin ailments and sunburn and to lighten skin.][
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15121401
malosana
Afromontane flora