About Daniellia oliveri (Rolfe) Hutch. & Dalziel
Daniellia oliveri is a medium-sized deciduous tree that grows to a height of 25 meters (80 feet) or taller. Its trunk is sometimes twisted, reaching up to 200 centimeters (80 inches) in diameter, and it forms a broad, flat-topped crown. The trunk typically has no branches along its lowest 9 meters (30 feet). The bark is greyish-white; it is smooth when young and later flakes off in patches. The alternate leaves are pinnate, growing up to 15 centimeters (6 inches) long, with six to eleven pairs of leaflets and no terminal leaflet. Its inflorescence is a compound raceme, and each individual scented bisexual flower has five unequal creamy-white petals. After flowering, it produces flattened oblong pods, each containing one single seed. Daniellia oliveri is native to tropical West and Central Africa, with a range that extends from Senegal to Sudan, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a typical component of the forest-savanna mosaic ecoregion, and grows in wooded savannas, where it is often the largest tree present. The wood of Daniellia oliveri is used for flooring, joinery, furniture, boatbuilding, cattle troughs, and drums, although the timber exudes too much gum to be suitable for high quality joinery and carving. It is also used for firewood and to manufacture charcoal. Long strips of its bark are used to make beehives. When burned, the gum produced by the tree gives off fragrant smoke, and is used to make torches, incense, and for fumigating houses. Powdered gum is used to add shine to cloth and to create a varnish for furniture. The young leaves of the tree are cooked and eaten during periods of famine; they are also used as cattle fodder. The leaves, bark, roots, and gum are used both internally and externally in traditional medicine to treat a range of conditions. Lumps of gum can be chewed, used to fill cavities in teeth, or made into beads, and the bark is added when brewing beer. The tree is a pioneer species, and is used for forest regeneration. Its fragrant flowers are a rich source of nectar for bees.
