User:DavidAnstiss/Mansonia altissima

Mansonia is a species of flowering plants belonging to the family Malvaceae.

Description
Evergreen medium-sized to fairly large tree up to 45 m tall; bole branchless for up to 30 m, up to 100(–150) cm in diameter, generally straight, cylindrical, sometimes with narrow buttresses; bark surface fissured lengthwise, clear brown, inner bark yellowish; crown small, ovoid, dense, with branches almost horizontal, later drooping; branchlets hairy or glabrous. Leaves alternate, simple; stipules present, early falling; petiole 2–5 cm long, hairy; blade obovate to orbicular, 15–30 cm × 8–15 cm, cordate at base, rounded and sometimes short-acuminate at apex, margin slightly wavy or toothed, papery, densely hairy below, with 6–7 basal veins and 4–5 pairs of lateral veins. Inflorescence a large, stalked, terminal cyme 12–15 cm long, densely short-hairy, many-flowered. Flowers bisexual, fragrant; pedicel c. 7 mm long; calyx c. 1 cm long, split unilaterally, folded back, stellate hairy; petals 5, obovate, c. 12 mm × 6 mm, glabrous, white, twisted in bud; androgynophore well-developed, c. 18 mm long; stamens 10 in a single circle, nearly sessile; staminodes 5, scale-like; ovary superior, consisting of 5 free carpels, velvety hairy, each carpel with a threadlike, flexuous style with minute stigma. Fruit consisting of 1–2 (–3) ovoid nuts c. 0.5 cm in diameter, surface reticulate, with a large papery wing 5–6 cm × c. 2 cm. Seedling with epigeal germination.

Taxonomy
Vernacular names Mansonia, African black walnut, African walnut (En). Bété, mansonia (Fr).

Range
Origin and geographic distribution Mansonia altissima occurs from Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire east to the Central African Republic and northern Congo.

Ecology Mansonia altissima is characteristic of the dense semi-deciduous forest in areas with about 1600 mm annual rainfall and a pronounced dry season. In Côte d’Ivoire the southern limit of its distribution area largely corresponds with the transition of semi-deciduous forest to evergreen forest; to the north its distribution extends to patches of dense forest in the savanna. Seedlings are most common on fertile soils on drier sites; they are fairly drought resistant. Seedlings planted in the wet forest zone died within a few years. In Ghana Mansonia altissima is most common in the semi-deciduous forest of the north-western part of the country, where it occurs mainly in exposed conditions. In southern Ghana seedlings up to 1 m tall are most common in disturbed forest, while smaller seedlings are more common in undisturbed forest. Adult trees are more common in logged or burnt forest than in undisturbed forest.

Uses
The wood (trade names: mansonia, bété, African black walnut, pruno) is used for general and high-class joinery, cabinet work, furniture, turnery, decorative veneer and handicrafts. It is also used in construction for doors and windows, in railway coaches and shop fittings, and for boxes and crates. Well-coloured wood resembles American black walnut and is commonly used as a substitute, e.g. for gun stocks and grips, musical instruments and loudspeaker enclosures.

Wood waste can be used as a substrate for the edible fungus Pleurotus tuber-regium. Preliminary observations indicate that the fermented substrate has some value as cattle feed.

The bark is very poisonous and in parts of south-western Côte d’Ivoire it is the main component of a very effective arrow-poison, also used in spear traps for large game. In other parts of its range the bark is a component of arrow poisons too. In Nigeria and Ghana products from the bark have been used in the treatment of leprosy. A bark extract is drunk or an infusion of the root is applied as enema as an aphrodisiac. A root decoction is given as enema against leprosy. A decoction of the twig bark is applied as a bath against yaws, scabies and syphilis.

Diseases and pests
Ambrosia beetles attack the bole of the standing tree. Caterpillars of the moth Godasa sidae may cause complete defoliation in plantations. Wood-boring caterpillars of Eulophonotus spp. may cause damage to the sapwood. Larvae of the polyphagous grasshopper Zonocerus variegatus may seriously attack the foliage of especially older trees. In plantations they may become serious pests.

Other sources
Aubréville, A., 1959. La flore forestière de la Côte d’Ivoire. Deuxième édition révisée. Tome deuxième. Publication No 15. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 341 pp. Bolza, E. & Keating, W.G., 1972. African timbers: the properties, uses and characteristics of 700 species. Division of Building Research, CSIRO, Melbourne, Australia. 710 pp. CIRAD Forestry Department, 2003. Bété. [Internet] Tropix 5.0. http://tropix.cirad.fr/afr/bete.pdf. July 2008. Détienne, P., 1975. Nature et periodicité des cernes dans le bois de bété (Mansonia altissima A. Chev). Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 26 pp. Durand, P.Y., 1978. Propriétés physiques et mécaniques des bois de Côte d’Ivoire: moyennes d’espèce et variabilité intraspécifique. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. 70 pp. Durrieu de Madron, L., 2003. Accroissement diamétrique du bété et de l’iroko. Bois et Forêts des Tropiques 275(1): 83–87. Guina, F.G., 1990. Extraction of mansonin from Mansonia altissima as cardiovascular agent (patent application). Ministère de la Recherche Scientifique, Côte d’Ivoire. 35 pp. Hawthorne, W.D., 1995. Ecological profiles of Ghanaian forest trees. Tropical Forestry Papers 29. Oxford Forestry Institute, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. 345 pp. Takahashi, A., 1978. Compilation of data on the mechanical properties of foreign woods (part 3) Africa. Shimane University, Matsue, Japan, 248 pp. Other references Akinagbe, A., Gailing, O. & Finkeldey, R., 2007. Genetic diversity of Mansonia altissima (A. Chev.) and Triplochiton scleroxylon (K. Schum.) in an agroforestry scenario in Akure Forest Reserve, Nigeria. Paper presented at the workshop ‘Utilization of diversity in land use systems: sustainable and organic approaches to meet human needs’, October 9–11, 2007, Witzenhausen, Germany. Allgeier, H., Weiss, E. & Reichstein, T., 1967. Die Cardenolide der Samen von Mansonia altissima A. Chev. Helvetica Chimica Acta 50(2): 431–462. Ayodele, S.M., Akpaja, E.O. & Anyiador, F., 2007. Evaluation of the yield of Lentinus squarrosulus (Mont) Singer on selected economic tree species. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences 10(23): 4283–4286. CTFT (Centre Technique Forestier Tropical), 1960. Résultats des observations et des essais effectués au Centre Technique Forestier Tropical sur le Bété, Mansonia altissima A.Chev., Mansonia nymphaeifolia Mildbr. Note Technique No 64. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 4 pp. Estlander, T., Jolanki, R., Alanko, K. & Kanerva, L., 2001. Occupational allergic contact dermatitis caused by wood dusts. Contact Dermatitis 44: 213–217. Fernandez-Villamil, S., Dubin, M., Galeffi, C. & Stoppani, A.O.M., 1990. Effects of mansonones on lipid peroxidation, P450 monooxygenase activity, and superoxide anion generation by rat liver microsomes. Biochemical Pharmacology 40: 2343–2351. Foahom, P.B., 1990. L’utilization du bété (Mansonia altissima A. Chev., Sterculiaceae) dans l’aménagement et la régénération des forêts du Sud-Cameroun. Bois et Forêts des Tropiques 226: 20–28. Foahom, P.B. & Du Merle, P., 1993. Premières données sur la biologie de Godasa sidae (Fab.) (Lep., Noctuidae), un ravageur de Mansonia altissima (Sterculiaceae) au Cameroun. Journal of Applied Entomology 116(3): 284–293. Foli, E.G., Alder, D., Miller, H.G. & Swaine, M.D., 2003. Modelling growing space requirements for some tropical forest tree species. Forest Ecology and Management 173: 79–88. Galeffi, C., Miranda delle Monache, E., Casinovi, C.G. & Marini Bettòlo, G.B., 1969. A new quinone from the heartwood of Mansonia altissima Chev.: mansonone L. Tetrahedron Letters 40: 3583–3584. Grison, F., 1971. Séchage à l’air du Bété (Mansonia altissima) à Pointe-Noire. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Pointe-Noire, Congo. 19 pp. Gyimah, R. & Nakao, T., 2007. Early growth and photosynthetic responses to light in seedlings of three tropical species differing in successional strategies. New Forests 33(3): 217–236. IARC, 1981. IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks of chemicals to humans. The furniture and cabinet-making industry. IARC Monograph 25: 99–138. InsideWood, undated. [Internet] http://insidewood.lib.ncsu.edu/search/. May 2007. Jonathan, S.G., Fasidi, I.O., Ajayi, A.O. & Adegeye, O., 2008. Biodegradation of Nigerian wood wastes by Pleurotus tuber-regium (Fries) Singer. Bioresource Technology 99(4): 807–811. Ogbamgba, K.O. & Wekhe, S.N., 2006. The effect of dietary inclusion of Mansonia altissima on feed intake, feed efficiency, and feed conversion of laying birds and cocks. African Journal of Biotechnology 5(10): 1022–1024. Oke, D.O. & Odebiyi, K.A., 2007. Traditional cocoa-based agroforestry and forest species conservation in Ondo State, Nigeria. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 122: 305–311. Oliver-Bever, B., 1982. Medicinal plants in tropical West Africa 1. Plants acting on the cardiovascular system. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 5: 1–71. Tanaka, N., Yasue, M. & Imamura, H., 1966. The quinonoid pigments of Mansonia altissima wood. Tetrahedron Letters 24: 2767–2773. UNEP-WCMC, 2006. Contribution to an evaluation of tree species using the new CITES Listing Criteria. UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, United Kingdom. [Internet]. http://www.unep-wcmc.org/species/tree_study/contents1_en.htm. July 2008. Veenendaal, E.M., Swaine, M.D., Lecha, R.T., Walsh, M.F., Abebrese, I.K. & Owusu-Afriyie, K., 1996. Responses of West African forest tree seedlings to irradiance and soil fertility. Functional Ecology 10(4): 501–511.
 * ATIBT (Association Technique Internationale des Bois Tropicaux), 1986. Tropical timber atlas: Part 1 – Africa. ATIBT, Paris, France. 208 pp.