''Prioria balsamifera'', the agba or tola, is a tall forest

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 ...

in the family Fabaceae. It is native to lowland tropical rainforest in west

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 ...

, from

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

southwards to the Congo basin in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

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 ...

, Republic of the Congo,

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 ...

, Equatorial Guinea,

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

, scattered or in local pockets, favouring deep soil and plenty of moisture. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and over-cutting for

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, w ...

.International Legume Database & Information Service
''Gossweilerodendron balsamiferum''
/ref>African Regional Workshop (Conservation & Sustainable Management of Trees, Zimbabwe) 1998
''Gossweilerodendron balsamiferum''2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
It is a large to very large

growing to 60 m tall, with a trunk 70–180 cm diameter with

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...

ous bark. The leaves are pinnate, with 6–10 alternately-arranged leaflets 4–9 cm long and 2–4 cm broad. 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 small, with four (rarely five) white sepals 2 mm long and no petals; they are produced in panicles. The pod is 10–14 cm long and 3.5–4.5 cm broad, superficially resembling a

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

samara with a single 2–3 cm

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 ...

at one end, with the rest of the pod modified into a wing. It has a high spruce gum content.Flore du Cameroun
''Gossweilerodendron'' (pdf file; in French)
Watson, L., & Dallwitz, M. J. (2005). The Genera of Leguminosae

/ref>Tropical timbers

/ref> Ehlers,R.C.;Sandermann, W.: Chemische Studien an Tropenhölzern—Sechste Mitteilung: Untersuchungen über harzhaltige Tropenhölzer. Holz als Roh- und Werkstoff. May 1961, Volume 19, Issue 5, pp 187-195. (in German
''Harzhaltige Tropenhölzer''
/ref> Other names for this tree are achi, egba, emongi (Nigeria), tola blanc (Congo-Brazzaville), tola branca (Angola), N'Tola (Zaire).

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q4355158, from2=Q50982838, from3=Q15543030 Detarioideae Flora of West Tropical Africa Trees of Africa Endangered plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot