''Triplochiton scleroxylon'' is a

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, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

of the genus '' Triplochiton'' of the family ''

Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...

''. The

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

is known by the common names African whitewood, abachi, obeche (in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

), wawa (in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

), ayous (in

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

) and sambawawa (in

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

). The tree is the official state tree of

Ekiti State Ekiti () is a state in southwestern Nigeria, bordered to the North by Kwara State for 61 km, to the Northeast by Kogi State for 92 km, to the South and Southeast by Ondo State, and to the West by Osun State for 84 km. Named for the Ekiti ...

Description

The species is distributed over the tropical areas of

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

and

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

Uses

The National Archives UK - CO 1069-20-19

The timber yielded is typically pale yellow and is moderately soft and light for a hardwood. Abachi

The timber is used in the manufacture of veneer, furniture, picture frames and mouldings. It is also used by

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

makers. Gibson and

Fender Japan Fender Japan, Ltd. was a joint venture between Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, , and Fujigen Gakki of Matsumoto, Nagano Japan to produce and sell Fender-branded instruments for the Japanese market. The collaboration began in 1982 and ende ...

have used the wood to produce limited edition guitars. The tree is a host of the African silk moth, '' Anaphe venata'', whose caterpillars feed on the leaves and spin cocoons which are then used to make

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

.African whitewood (Triplochiton scleroxylon) - Reforet IITA
/ref> The wood is exploited in its natural habitat, a harvest that is unsustainable in some areas. However, it remains classed as 'least concern' on the IUCN Red List.African Regional Workshop (Conservation & Sustainable Management of Trees, Zimbabwe, July 1996). 1998
''Triplochiton scleroxylon''.
In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. Downloaded on 24 July 2013.

References

scleroxylon Trees of Africa Flora of Cameroon Flora of Ivory Coast Flora of Ghana Flora of Nigeria Flora of Sierra Leone Least concern plants Wood {{Malvaceae-stub