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[[File:Map Baphia nitida.gif|thumb|''Baphia nitida'', distribution in Africa (wild)]]

[[File:Baphia nitida 01.jpg|thumb|close up of a flower; obtained from (National Parks Board, Singapore)]][[File:Baphia nitida 02.jpg|thumb|foliage; obtained from (National Parks Board, Singapore)]][[File:Baphia nitida 03.jpg|thumb|planted as shade tree; obtained from (National Parks Board, Singapore)]][[File:Baphia nitida 04.jpg|thumb|trimmed as hedge;obtained from (National Parks Board, Singapore)]]

*Many-stemmed erect shrub or small tree up to 9 m tall with glabrous to densely pubescent branchlets. *Leaves alternate, simple and entire; stipules quickly caducous; petiole 1–4 cm long, prominently thickened at base and at top; blade ovate, elliptical, obovate or lanceolate, 5–21 cm × 3–9 cm, base rounded to cuneate, apex acuminate, slightly leathery, almost glabrous, pinnately veined. *Flowers in axillary fascicles, 1–5-flowered, bisexual, papilionaceous; pedicel slender, 3–17 mm long; calyx spathaceous, 8–10 mm long, glabrous but with a tuft of brown hairs at apex; corolla with standard suborbicular, 1–2 cm in diameter, white with a yellow centre, wings and keel white with a pocket near the base; stamens 10, filaments unequal, free, up to 7 mm long; ovary superior, sessile, glabrous, sometimes with a row of silvery hairs along the dorsal margin, 1-celled, style curved, filiform, stigma small. *Fruit a compressed pod 8–16.5 cm × 1–1.5 cm, pointed at both ends, 1–4-seeded. *Seeds almost circular in outline, 1–1.5 cm in diameter, brown.

''Baphia'' comprises about 45 species and is largely confined to tropical Africa with most species present in Nigeria and Cameroon. Benin camwood (''Baphia pubescens'' Hook.f. (synonym: ''Baphia bancoensis'' Aubrév.)) has a distribution similar to that of ''Baphia nitida'', but extending into DR Congo and their vernacular names and uses are more or less interchangeable. Its heartwood is also a source of a red dye but it has been less exploited. ''Baphia pubescens'' differs from ''Baphia nitida'' in its leaves, which are hairy below, and in its hairy ovary.

=== ''Baphia pubescens'' ===Benin camwood, ''[[Baphia pubescens]]'' Hook.f. (synonym: ''Baphia bancoensis'' Aubrév.), has a distribution similar to that of ''Baphia nitida'', but extending into DR Congo and their vernacular names and uses are more or less interchangeable. Its heartwood is also a source of a red dye but it has been less exploited. ''Baphia pubescens'' differs from ''Baphia nitida'' in its leaves, which are hairy below, and in its hairy ovary. === ''Baphia massaiensis'' ===In northern Namibia the roots of ''[[Baphia massaiensis]]'' Taub. subsp. ''obovata'' (Schinz) Brummitt are used as a source of a red dye for leather hides. The roots are crushed, mixed with water, and skins are steeped in the dye bath, taking up the red dye within about one day. Formerly ox-stomachs used as aprons by women were dyed in the same way, then tanned and stretched out to dry. ''Baphia massaiensis'' occurs from southern DR Congo and Tanzania to northern South Africa, and differs from ''Baphia nitida'' in its long bracteoles, pubescent ovary and usually rounded or obtuse leaf apex. It is an extremely variable species.

Cardon, D. & Jansen, P.C.M., 2005. '''Baphia nitida''' Lodd. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. In: Jansen, P.C.M. & Cardon, D. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>. Accessed {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}.