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Terminalia superba
Also called Limba, Shinglewood, White Afara, White Mukonja, Yellow Pine
Superb terminalia is a very large timber tree of the West African rainforest, grown for its pale hardwood rather than as an ornamental. It is not practical as a garden or houseplant and is not normally grown in pots.
Terminalia superba, the superb terminalia, limba, afara (UK), korina (US), frake (Africa), African limba wood, or ofram (Ghana), is a large tree in the family Combretaceae, native to tropical western Africa.
It grows up to 60 m tall, with a domed or flat crown, and a trunk typically clear of branches for much of its height, buttressed at the base. The leaves are 10 cm long and 5 cm broad, and are deciduous in the dry season (November to February). The flowers are produced at the end of the dry season just before the new leaves; they are small and whitish, growing in loose spikes 10–12 cm long. The fruit is a samara with two wings.
The wood is either a light (white limba or korina) or with dark stripes (black limba) hardwood. It is used for making furniture, table tennis blades (as outer ply), and musical instruments and prized for its workability and excellent colour and finish. The most well known example of its use in guitars is when Gibson produced their now highly sought-after Flying V and Explorer guitars in 1958. Makers of table tennis blades choose limba, and in particular black limba, for its flexibility and the idea that it enhances top-spin. Limba is used in some blades made by Stiga and OSP. When finished in a clear coat, white limba results in an attractive light golden colour.
Arjun · Terminalia australis · Myrobalan · Black Olive · Terminalia calamansanai · Tropical-almond · Myrobalan · Terminalia dhofarica · Indian Laurel · Kakadu Plum · Ivory Coast almond · Terminalia macroptera
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Terminalia superba 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.
