Brachystegia leonensis

Brachystegia leonensis is a medium to tall sized tree occurring in the rain forests of West Africa, belonging to the family Fabaceae. It is one of three species within the genus Brachystegia that is represented in West Africa. It is morphologically close to Brachystegia kennedyi, a species occurring in Nigeria.^[1]

Brachystegia leonensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Genus:	Brachystegia
Species:	B. leonensis
Binomial name
Brachystegia leonensis Hutch. & Burtt Davy

Description

A medium to large sized tree, the species is capable of reaching more than 40 m (130 ft) in height and up to 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) in diameter.^[2] It has a cylindrical trunk with buttressed roots at the base, the crown is fairly open, spreading and with drooping leaves.^[3] The bark is thick, smooth but sometimes has irregular scales, it is greyish in color while the slash is hard, reddish brown turing dark red upon exposure and exuding a reddish sap.^[2] Leaves are alternate and paripinnately compound and normally has about 8 - 10 pairs of leaflets.^[3] Leaflets are elliptic in shape and papery in texture, up to 9 cm (3.5 in) long and 2.5 cm (0.98 in) wide, with the apex pointed while the base is rounded. Inflorescence are in dense terminal or axillary panicles and bearing spikes from 2–5 cm (0.79–1.97 in) long.

Distribution and habitat

Represented in West Africa in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. It is found in evergreen forests with well drained soils.^[3][4]

References

1. Hoyle, A. C. (1955). "Notulae systematicae II. A New Species of Brachystegia from Southern Nigeria (Caesalpiniaceae)". Bulletin du Jardin botanique de l'État a Bruxelles. 25 (2): 183–190. doi:10.2307/3667064. JSTOR 3667064.
2. Aubréville, A. (1959). La flore forestière de la Côte d'Ivoire (2 ed.). Centre Technique Forestier Tropical.
3. Voorhoeve, A. G. (1965). Liberian high forest trees : a systematic botanical study of the 75 most important or frequent high forest trees, with reference to numerous related species [Dissertation]. Centrum voor Landbouwpublicaties en Landbouwdocumentatie.
4. Louppe, Dominique, ed. (2008). Plant resources of tropical Africa. 7,1: Timbers: 1 / ed.: D. Louppe; A. A. Oteng-Amoako. General ed.: R. H. M. J. Lemmens. Weikersheim: Margraf. p. 150. ISBN 978-90-5782-209-4.