Musanga cecropioides
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''Musanga cecropioides'', the African corkwood tree or umbrella tree, is found in
tropical Africa Although tropical Africa is mostly familiar to the West for its rainforests, this biogeographic realm of Africa is far more diverse. While the tropics are thought of as regions with hot moist climates, which are caused by latitude and the tropi ...
from
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
south to
Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...
and east to
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 ...
. It is typical in
secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...
s. This tree is also known as ''parasolier'', ''n'govoge'', ''govwi'', ''doe'', ''kombo-kombo'', ''musanga'', and ''musanda''.


Description

''Musanga cecropioides'' can reach a height of with a diameter of . Its trunk has a pale whitish/yellow tone with a rough, granular texture.


Ecology

''Musanga cecropioides'' is a pioneer species and readily springs up in newly cleared patches of forest. In Nigeria it is joined in these locations by the poison devil's-pepper (''Rauvolfia vomitoria''), the Ivory Coast almond (''Terminalia ivorensis'') and the dragon's blood tree (''Harungana madagascariensis''). Five years later, ''M. cecropioides'' has become dominant, with a closed canopy at


Uses

Uses of the wood from the African corkwood tree range from flotation devices, such as rafts, to toys. The wood of the African corkwood tree has a frail concreteness and has a tendency to mold and tarnish easily. The tree has traditional medical uses among the
Bantu peoples The Bantu peoples, or Bantu, are an ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. They are native to 24 countries spread over a vast area from Central Africa to Southeast Africa and into Southern A ...
of the Central African Republic, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.


References


External links


USDA Forest Service Technical Fact Sheet: ''Musanga cecropioides''Gallery


Gallery

Musanga cecropioides00.jpg, Foliage Musanga cecropioides03.jpg, Female flower Musanga cecropioides04.jpg, Male flower {{Taxonbar, from=Q773545 Urticaceae Trees of Africa Flora of East Tropical Africa Flora of West-Central Tropical Africa Flora of West Tropical Africa Flora of Angola Flora of Cabinda Province Flora of Cameroon Flora of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Flora of Guinea Flora of Niger Flora of Nigeria Flora of the Republic of the Congo Flora of Sierra Leone Flora of Uganda