Chloroxylon faho (PROTA)

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Introduction

List of species

General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Timber
Ornamental

distribution in Africa (wild)

1, flowering twig; 2, flower; 3, fruits; 4, seed. Redrawn and adapted by Iskak Syamsudin

bole and crown

wood

Chloroxylon faho Capuron

Protologue: Adansonia, sér. 2, 7(4): 479 (1967).

Family: Rutaceae

Vernacular names

• Satinwood (En).
• Faho (Fr).

Origin and geographic distribution

Chloroxylon faho is endemic to north-eastern Madagascar.

Uses

The wood of Chloroxylon faho is used for local construction and carpentry. It is suitable for the same purposes as Chloroxylon swietenia (Roxb.) DC. (‘East Indian satinwood’), such as furniture, panelling, interior joinery, parquet flooring, cabinet work, carvings, luxury goods and veneer.

Production and international trade

The wood is only used locally and not traded on the international market.

Properties

The heartwood is pale yellow to golden yellow and is difficult to distinguish from the 4–6 cm wide sapwood. The grain is straight, sometimes interlocked, texture very fine. The wood is mottled and lustrous.

The wood is heavy, with a density of 915–1020 kg/m³ at 12% moisture content. It air dries rather slowly, but without much risk of distortion. The rates of shrinkage from green to oven dry are moderate: 3.4–5.6% radial and 6.8–8.4% tangential. Once dried, the wood is unstable in service.

The wood is hard and flexible. At 12% moisture content, the modulus of rupture is 147–220 N/mm², modulus of elasticity 10,700–18,650 N/mm², compression parallel to grain 60–86 N/mm² and Chalais-Meudon side hardness 8.2–12.8.

The wood works well with hand and machine tools, but with a rather high blunting effect on cutting edges; stellite-tipped sawteeth are needed. The wood takes a nice polish. In gluing there is a risk of discoloration of the wood. The wood has an excellent resistance to fungi, dry wood borers and termites. The heartwood is impermeable to preservatives.

Description

• Deciduous small tree up to 15(–25) m tall; bole straight, branchless for up to 7(–15) m, up to 45(–70) cm in diameter; bark surface pale grey to yellowish, slightly rough to smooth.
• Leaves alternate, paripinnately compound with up to 16 leaflets, hairy when young; stipules absent; petiole up to 3 cm long; petiolules short; leaflets alternate, elliptical-ovate, 2–5 cm × 1–3 cm, base very asymmetrical, one side cuneate, other side cordate, apex rounded to acute, margins entire, gland-dotted, pinnately veined with up to 7 pairs of lateral veins.
• Inflorescence a terminal pyramid-shaped panicle up to 30 cm long, short-hairy.
• Flowers bisexual, regular, 5-merous, small; pedicel short; calyx with small, ovate teeth; petals free, narrowly lanceolate, 2–3.5 mm long, pointed, whitish, reflexed, inside slightly short-hairy; stamens 10, free, as long as petals; disk obconical; ovary superior, ovoid, short-hairy, 3-celled, style minute, stigma head-shaped, small.
• Fruit an ellipsoid capsule c. 3 cm long, dehiscing with 3 woody valves, up to 6-seeded.
• Seeds ellipsoid, laterally flattened, c. 1 cm long, with a thin apical wing up to 1.5 cm long.

Other botanical information

Chloroxylon comprises 3 species; 2 are endemic to Madagascar and the third, Chloroxylon swietenia, originates from central and southern India and Sri Lanka.

Chloroxylon falcatum

Chloroxylon falcatum Capuron is a small tree up to 15 m tall, endemic to western Madagascar. The heavy and hard yellowish wood is mainly used for local construction and is suitable for parquet flooring and carpentry. The wood is considered of less aesthetic value than that of Chloroxylon faho.

Anatomy

Wood-anatomical description (IAWA hardwood codes):

• Growth rings: (1: growth ring boundaries distinct); (2: growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent).
• Vessels: 5: wood diffuse-porous; 13: simple perforation plates; 22: intervessel pits alternate; (23: shape of alternate pits polygonal); 24: intervessel pits minute (≤ 4 μm); 25: intervessel pits small (4–7 μm); 30: vessel-ray pits with distinct borders; similar to intervessel pits in size and shape throughout the ray cell; 41: mean tangential diameter of vessel lumina 50–100 μm; 48: 20–40 vessels per square millimetre; (58: gums and other deposits in heartwood vessels).
• Tracheids and fibres: 61: fibres with simple to minutely bordered pits; 66: non-septate fibres present; 69: fibres thin- to thick-walled; (70: fibres very thick-walled).
• Axial parenchyma: 78: axial parenchyma scanty paratracheal; 86: axial parenchyma in narrow bands or lines up to three cells wide; 89: axial parenchyma in marginal or in seemingly marginal bands; 91: two cells per parenchyma strand; 92: four (3–4) cells per parenchyma strand.
• Rays: 97: ray width 1–3 cells; 106: body ray cells procumbent with one row of upright and/or square marginal cells; 107: body ray cells procumbent with mostly 2–4 rows of upright and/or square marginal cells; 115: 4–12 rays per mm.
• Storied structure: 118: all rays storied; 120: axial parenchyma and/or vessel elements storied.
• Mineral inclusions: 136: prismatic crystals present; 137: prismatic crystals in upright and/or square ray cells; 140: prismatic crystals in chambered upright and/or square ray cells; 142: prismatic crystals in chambered axial parenchyma cells; 143: prismatic crystals in fibres.

(N.P. Mollel, P. Détienne & E.A. Wheeler)

Growth and development

Chloroxylon faho is leafless from January–March. It flowers mainly in April.

Ecology

Chloroxylon faho grows in low-altitude humid evergreen forest in north-eastern Madagascar, from sea-level up to 500 m altitude.

Genetic resources

Although Chloroxylon faho is not very widespread or common, there are no indications that it is threatened by genetic erosion.

Prospects

As the wood properties of Chloroxylon faho are similar to those of Chloroxylon swietenia, a wider use of the timber seems possible. However, in view of its restricted distribution and uncommon occurrence, harvesting the timber from wild stands should be discouraged. Planting experiments may clarify the possibilities as a timber plantation tree.

Major references

• Capuron, R., 1967. Nouvelles observations sur les Rutacées de Madagascar. Adansonia, séries 2, 7(4): 479–500.

• Guéneau, P., 1971. Bois de Madagascar. Possibilités d’emploi. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Antananarivo, Madagascar. 75 pp.

• Guéneau, P. & Guéneau, D., 1969. Propriétés physiques et mécaniques des bois malgaches. Cahiers scientifiques No 2, Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 51 pp.

• Guéneau, P., Bedel, J. & Thiel, J., 1970–1975. Bois et essences malgaches. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 150 pp.

• Parant, B., Chichignoud, M. & Rakotovao, G., 1985. Présentation graphique des caractères des principaux bois tropicaux. Tome 5. Bois de Madagascar. CIRAD, Montpellier, France. 161 pp.

Other references

• Bedolla, A., 1997. Les trente deux essences recommendées pour la parquéterie à Madagascar. Département des Eaux et Forêts, Ecole Supérieure en Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar. 126 pp.

• InsideWood, undated. [Internet] http://insidewood.lib.ncsu.edu/search/. May 2007.

• Schatz, G.E., 2001. Generic tree flora of Madagascar. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 477 pp.

Sources of illustration

• Capuron, R., 1967. Nouvelles observations sur les Rutacées de Madagascar. Adansonia, séries 2, 7(4): 479–500.

Author(s)

• G.H. Schmelzer, PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands

Correct citation of this article

Schmelzer, G.H., 2008. Chloroxylon faho Capuron. In: Louppe, D., Oteng-Amoako, A.A. & Brink, M. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. Accessed 18 December 2024.

• See the Prota4U database.