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Erythrophleum ivorense
Also called Sasswoodtree, Sasswood
Ordealtree is a tall evergreen rainforest tree from tropical West and Central Africa, grown mainly for its durable timber rather than as an ornamental. It is not a practical garden or houseplant and is best left to its native forests or managed plantations.
Erythrophleum ivorense is a species of leguminous tree in the genus Erythrophleum found in the rainforests of tropical West and Central Africa. The tree has many uses; the timber is used for heavy construction, for making charcoal and for firewood, the bark is used for tanning and in traditional medicine, and both bark and seeds are poisonous and used for hunting.
Erythrophleum ivorenseis native to tropical West Africa where its range extends from The Gambia to Gabon and the Central African Republic. It occurs in evergreen and moist, semi-deciduous forest, primarily in mature second-growth forest. The roots often bear nodules containing Bradyrhizobium, bacteria which are capable of nitrogen fixation.
The timber is very durable and is traded internationally. It is used for heavy construction, bridges, wharves and railway sleepers, as well as for boat building and wheel hubs. However the sawdust is irritating to the mucosa and may causes asthma and allergies to workers in sawmills. The wood makes good charcoal and firewood. The bark is used in tanning and has several uses in traditional medicine. Both the bark and the seeds are toxic and are used in hunting, and in Sierra Leone, the bark is used to poison fish.
African Blackwood · Cooktown Ironwood · Erythrophleum couminga · Erythrophleum fordii · Sasswood
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Erythrophleum ivorense by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
