Bureaucrat, administrator, widgeteditor
146,870
edits
Changes
no edit summary
| Medicinal= 2
}}
<big>''[[Faurea saligna]]'' Harv.</big>
__NOTOC__
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Faurea saligna'' (PROTA)}}
:Protologue: London Journ. Bot. 6: 373, t. 15 (1847).
:Family: Proteaceae
== Vernacular names ==
The wood saws and works well with machine tools, and it can be planed, mortised and polished with good results. Radial surfaces may show some picking up of grain. The nailing properties are satisfactory. The wood produces good-quality veneer by slicing and peeling. It turns well. It is moderately durable to fairly durable, having some resistance to termites and wood borers. Boles of young trees are not suitable for use as poles or fence posts in contact with the ground, but those of older trees are more durable.
== Botany Description ==
Evergreen small to medium-sized tree up to 20(–27) m tall; bole branchless for up to 10 m, straight or twisted, slender, up to 60 cm in diameter, sometimes swollen at base; bark surface longitudinally fissured, dark greyish brown to blackish, inner bark yellowish with pink or red border; crown fairly open, with spreading branches; twigs pendent, greyish short-hairy, becoming glabrous. Leaves alternate, usually clustered near ends of twigs, simple; stipules absent; petiole up to 1.5 cm long, pinkish to red; blade lanceolate-elliptical, up to 16 cm × 3.5 cm, cuneate at base, acute at apex, margins entire or slightly wavy, leathery, glabrous, glaucous green, pinnately veined with indistinct lateral veins. Inflorescence a terminal, dense spike up to 15 cm long, greyish short-hairy. Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic, 4-merous, sessile; perianth tubular in bud, c. 12 mm long, splitting into 4 reflexing lobes, one nearly free, the others fused almost to apex, pale pinkish green; stamens fused to perianth lobes; ovary superior, with long straight hairs, 1-celled, style long and slender. Fruit a small, globose nut covered with silky white hairs, 1-seeded.
== Other botanical information ==
Trees grow moderately slowly. In southern Africa flowering trees can be found from August to February and fruits ripen 2–3 months later. The flowers are fragrant with a sweet smell and rich in nectar, and attract bees, which are probably the major pollinators.
''Faurea'' comprises about 15 species and occurs in mainland Africa, but one species is endemic to Madagascar. ''Faurea rochetiana'' (A.Rich.) Pic.Serm. (synonym: ''Faurea speciosa'' Welw.) is quite similar to ''Faurea saligna'' and has been much confused in literature with the latter. It differs in its usually wider leaves, which are hairy below, and has an even larger area of distribution, from Nigeria east to Ethiopia and south to South Africa. Its wood is used for similar purposes, and the tree is used for other purposes which are also comparable to ''Faurea saligna''. Some other ''Faurea'' spp. have been confused with ''Faurea saligna'', particularly ''Faurea arborea'' Engl., ''Faurea delevoyi'' De Wild. and ''Faurea wentzeliana'' Engl., which are all medium-sized trees, occasionally up to 30 m tall. This means that information published under ''Faurea saligna'' may refer to another species or to a mixture of species.
=== ''Faurea forficuliflorarochetiana'' ===''[[Faurea rochetiana]]'' Baker is a small tree up to 10(–20A.Rich.) m tall, with a bole up Pic.Serm. (synonym: ''Faurea speciosa'' Welw.) is quite similar to 50 cm ''Faurea saligna'' and has been much confused in diameterliterature with the latter. It differs in its usually wider leaves, endemic to Madagascarwhich are hairy below, where it is widespread in the central regions up and has an even larger area of distribution, from Nigeria east to Ethiopia and south to 2500 m altitudeSouth Africa. Its hard, yellowish brown wood has been is used for fence postssimilar purposes, and the tree is used for other purposes which are also comparable to ''Faurea saligna''.
=== ''Faurea forficuliflora'' ===
''[[Faurea forficuliflora]]'' Baker is a small tree up to 10(–20) m tall, with a bole up to 50 cm in diameter, endemic to Madagascar, where it is widespread in the central regions up to 2500 m altitude. Its hard, yellowish brown wood has been used for fence posts.
=== ''Faurea macnaughtonii'' ===
''[[Faurea macnaughtonii]]'' E.Phillips is restricted to South Africa and Swaziland, where it occurs in few, scattered populations. Its brown to dark brown, nicely figured wood, which is heavy (with a density of about 950 kg/m³ at 12% moisture content) and hard, has been valued for furniture, but the tree is now protected.
== Ecology ==
''Faurea saligna'' occurs in woodland, often together with ''Brachystegia'' spp., and grassland with scattered trees, at 700–2000 m altitude, in regions with a mean annual rainfall to as low as 500 mm. It can be found on sandy or loamy soils, and on rocky ridges. Trees are slightly fire-tolerant, but do not survive fierce fires.
== Management ==
[[fr:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:PROTA prov]][[Category:Timbers (PROTA)]]