Changes

:Family: Apocynaceae

*''Alstonia gilletii'' De Wild. (1907).

*Alstonia, cheesewood, stool wood, pattern wood (En). *Emien (Fr). *Songati (Po).

*Small to medium-sized tree up to 15(–25) m tall, with latex; bole up to 30(–100) cm in diameter, fluted at the base or with steep buttresses; bark smooth or rough, usually with large lenticels, greyish or pale brown, inner bark creamy or pale yellow, with copious latex; crown layered. *Leaves in whorls of 4–6(–8), simple and entire; stipules absent; petiole up to 0.5 (–1) cm long, flattened and grooved above, with narrowly triangular colleters at base; blade obovate to spatulate, 8–26 cm × 3.5–11.5 cm, cuneate at base, rounded to shortly acuminate at apex, occasionally retuse, leathery, glabrous, many-veined with lateral veins joining near the margin. Inflorescence a terminal, compound, umbel-like cyme up to 25 cm long; peduncle 3.5–12 cm long, stout; bracts up to 2 mm long. *Flowers bisexual, regular, 5-merous, fragrant; pedicel ( 2–)3–5(–9) mm long; sepals up to 3 mm long, fused at base, glabrous but slightly pubescent at margins; corolla cream-coloured, pale yellow or pale pink, pubescent, with tube 4–7.5 mm long, widening near the end, lobes obliquely obovate, 4–10 mm long; stamens inserted in upper part of corolla tube, filaments c. 0.5 mm long, anthers up to 1.5 mm long; ovary superior, ovoid, glabrous or occasionally slightly pubescent, 2-celled, style 1–3.5 mm long, ending in a pistil head composed of a basal ring, a cylindrical central part and an elongate cleft stigmoid apical part. *Fruit composed of 2 linear follicles 20–45 cm long and 2–4 mm in diameter, glabrous, many-seeded. *Seeds oblong, flattened, 6–9 mm × 2–2.5 mm, brown, with long hairs up to 2 cm long on the ends.

*Growth rings: (1: growth ring boundaries distinct); (2: growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent). *Vessels: 5: wood diffuse-porous; (10: vessels in radial multiples of 4 or more common); 13: simple perforation plates; 22: intervessel pits alternate; (23: shape of alternate pits polygonal); (24: intervessel pits minute (<font size="1">≤</font> 4 μm)); 25: intervessel pits small (4–7 μm); 29: vestured pits; 30: vessel-ray pits with distinct borders; similar to intervessel pits in size and shape throughout the ray cell; 42: mean tangential diameter of vessel lumina 100–200 μm; (43: mean tangential diameter of vessel lumina <font size="1">≥</font> 200 μm); 46: <font size="1">≤</font> 5 vessels per square millimetre; (47: 5–20 vessels per square millimetre). *Tracheids and fibres: (61: fibres with simple to minutely bordered pits); (62: fibres with distinctly bordered pits); 66: non-septate fibres present; 68: fibres very thin-walled. *Axial parenchyma: 78: axial parenchyma scanty paratracheal; 86: axial parenchyma in narrow bands or lines up to three cells wide; (87: axial parenchyma reticulate); (92: four (3–4) cells per parenchyma strand); 93: eight (5–8) cells per parenchyma strand; (94: over eight 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. *Secretory elements and cambial variants: 132: laticifers or tanniferous tubes. *Mineral inclusions: (136: prismatic crystals present); (137: prismatic crystals in upright and/or square ray cells); (141: prismatic crystals in non-chambered axial parenchyma cells); (154: more than one crystal of about the same size per cell or chamber).

{{right|(E. Ebanyenle, A.A. Oteng-Amoako & P. Baas)}}

* World Agroforestry Centre, undated. Agroforestree Database. [Internet] World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ Sites/TreeDBS/ aft.asp. January 2005.

Lemmens, R.H.M.J., 2005. '''Alstonia congensis''' Engl. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. In: Louppe, D., Oteng-Amoako, A.A. & Brink, M. (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}}.

[[Category:PROTA prov]][[Category:Timbers (PROTA)]]