''Entandrophragma'' is a genus of eleven known species of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s in the family Meliaceae.

Description

''Entandrophragma'' is restricted to tropical

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

.Entandrophragma C. DC. in Bull. Herb. Boissier 2:582 t.21 (1894) At least some of the species attain large sizes, reaching 40–50 m tall, exceptionally 60 m, and 2 m in trunk diameter. In 2016 a specimen of ''

Entandrophragma excelsum ''Entandrophragma excelsum'', is Africa's tallest indigenous tree native to Tropics, tropical East Africa and occurs in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, D.R.of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. This speci ...

'' towering at a height of tall, and a dbhresearchgate.net
Africa’s highest mountain harbours Africa’s tallest trees
Authors: Hemp Andreas, Reiner Zimmermann, Sabine Remmele, Ulf Pommer, Bernd Berauer, Claudia Hemp, Markus Fischer , January 2017 , Biodiversity and Conservation 26(1):1-11 , DOI:10.1007/s10531-016-1226-3 was identified at Kilimanjaro. It is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

, with male and female flowers on separate plants. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are pinnate, with 5-9 pairs of leaflets, each leaflet 8–10 cm long with an acuminate tip. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are produced in loose

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s, each flower small, with five yellowish

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s about 2 mm long, and ten

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a five-valved capsule containing numerous winged

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

Species

Accepted 11 Species:science.kew.org
''Entandrophragma'' C.DC.
,

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

# ''

Entandrophragma angolense ''Entandrophragma angolense'', called the ''tiama'', is a tree species with alternate, pinnately compound leaves that are clustered at the ends of branches. It is within the family Meliaceae and has a wide distribution area, occurring in moist sem ...

'' (

Welw. Friedrich Martin Josef Welwitsch (25 February 1806 – 20 October 1872) was an Austrian explorer and botanist who in Angola was the first European to describe the plant ''Welwitschia mirabilis''. His report received wide attention among the bo ...

) Panshin # ''

Entandrophragma bussei ''Entandrophragma'' is a genus of eleven known species of deciduous trees in the family Meliaceae. Description ''Entandrophragma'' is restricted to tropical Africa.Entandrophragma C. DC. in Bull. Herb. Boissier 2:582 t.21 (1894) At least some ...

'' Harms ex

Engl. Engl or Engl. may refer to: *England, a country that is part of the United Kingdom *English *Engl (surname), a German surname *Engl., taxonomic abbreviation for botanist Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 193 ...

# ''

Entandrophragma candollei ''Entandrophragma'' is a genus of eleven known species of deciduous trees in the family Meliaceae. Description ''Entandrophragma'' is restricted to tropical Africa.Entandrophragma C. DC. in Bull. Herb. Boissier 2:582 t.21 (1894) At least some ...

'' Harms # ''

Entandrophragma caudatum ''Entandrophragma caudatum'', or mountain mahogany, is a large Southern African tree belonging to the Meliaceae, mahogany family and found in eastern and north eastern South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, Angola, the Caprivi Strip region of Namibi ...

'' ( Sprague) Sprague # ''

Entandrophragma congoense ''Entandrophragma'' is a genus of eleven known species of deciduous trees in the family Meliaceae. Description ''Entandrophragma'' is restricted to tropical Africa.Entandrophragma C. DC. in Bull. Herb. Boissier 2:582 t.21 (1894) At least some ...

'' (Pierre ex De Wild.) A.Chev. # ''

Entandrophragma cylindricum ''Entandrophragma cylindricum'' is a tree of the genus ''Entandrophragma'' of the family ''Meliaceae''. It is commonly known as sapele or sapelli ( ) or sapele mahogany, as well as aboudikro, assi, and muyovu. Origin of the name The name ''sap ...

'' ( Sprague) Sprague # ''

Entandrophragma delevoyi ''Entandrophragma'' is a genus of eleven known species of deciduous trees in the family Meliaceae. Description ''Entandrophragma'' is restricted to tropical Africa.Entandrophragma C. DC. in Bull. Herb. Boissier 2:582 t.21 (1894) At least some ...

'' De Wild. # ''

'' (Dawe & Sprague) Sprague # '' Entandrophragma palustre'' Staner # ''

Entandrophragma spicatum ''Entandrophragma'' is a genus of eleven known species of deciduous trees in the family Meliaceae. Description ''Entandrophragma'' is restricted to tropical Africa.Entandrophragma C. DC. in Bull. Herb. Boissier 2:582 t.21 (1894) At least some ...

'' (

C.DC. Anne Casimir Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (20 February 1836, Geneva – 3 October 1918, Chêne-Bougeries) was a Swiss botanist, the son of Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle. Early life and education He studied chemistry, physics and mathematic ...

) Sprague # ''

Entandrophragma utile ''Entandrophragma utile'', called the sipo or utile, is a species of large tree in the genus ''Entandrophragma'', native to nearly all of tropical Africa facing the Atlantic, from Guinea to Angola, and as far east as Uganda. The timber is traded ...

'' (Dawe & Sprague) Sprague

Uses

The

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

of a few species is traded as a tropical

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

. It is sometimes termed under the generic label of ''mahogany'', and while ''Entandrophragma'' is part of the family Meliaceae, it is not classified as genuine mahogany. The species shares many of the characteristics of genuine mahogany and is used as an alternative, with ''

Sapele ''Entandrophragma cylindricum'' is a tree of the genus ''Entandrophragma'' of the family ''Meliaceae''. It is commonly known as sapele or sapelli ( ) or sapele mahogany, as well as aboudikro, assi, and muyovu. Origin of the name The name ''sap ...

'' and ''Utile'' in particular bearing a close resemblance.Mahogany Mixups: the Lowdown - The Wood Database
/ref>

References

External links

;Tiama ''Entandrophragma angolense''

;Kosipo ''Entandrophragma candollei''

;Sapeli ''Entandrophragma cylindricum''

;Sipo (Utile) ''Entandrophragma utile''

{{Taxonbar, from=Q133937 Flora of Africa Meliaceae genera Dioecious plants