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<big>''[[Cordia africana]]'' Lam.</big>

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Cordia africana'' (PROTA)}}

:Protologue: Tab. encycl. 1: 420 (1792).

The polysaccharide from the fruit pulp of ''Cordia africana'' consists mainly of galactose, mannose, xylose, arabinose, glucose, rhamnose, galacturonic acid and about 2.5% protein. It may have applications in food, textile and pharmaceutical industries, and could act as an emulsifying agent also in systems with relatively high salt concentrations.

Deciduous shrub or small to medium-sized tree up to 25(–30) m tall; bole branchless for up to 8(–12) m, often curved or crooked, up to 90 cm in diameter; bark surface smooth in young trees, becoming cracked or longitudinally fissured, pale brown to dark brown, inner bark fibrous, whitish, turning greyish to nearly blackish upon exposure; crown rounded, dense, much-branched; twigs velvety hairy, becoming glabrous. Leaves alternate, simple; stipules absent; petiole 1–13 cm long; blade ovate to elliptical or nearly orbicular, 7.5–20(–30) cm × 3.5–18(–22.5) cm, rounded to cordate at base, rounded to acuminate at apex, margins entire to slightly toothed, leathery, rough above, short-hairy below, pinnately veined with 5–7 pairs of lateral veins. Inflorescence a terminal compact panicle up to 15 cm long, composed of cymes, minutely hairy, many-flowered. Flowers bisexual, regular, 5-merous, nearly sessile, sweet-scented; calyx tubular, (5–)7–9 mm long, 10-ribbed, slightly irregularly toothed; corolla funnel-shaped, (1.5–)2–2.5 cm long, strongly folded, white, with short lobes; stamens inserted near base of corolla tube, c. 1 cm long, included; ovary superior, ovoid, 2–3 mm long, glabrous, style 1–2 cm long, twice bifid with 4 stigmas. Fruit an ovoid to nearly globose drupe 10–12 mm × 6–10 mm, glabrous, yellow, enclosed at base by the persistent calyx, with sweet pulp and slightly 4-angled stone containing 1–2(–4) seeds. Seeds ovoid, flattened, up to 6 mm × 3 mm, creamy white.

Trees have been reported to reach 7–8 m tall after 7 years. In trial plots at 2100 m altitude in Kenya, mean annual increments of 30-years-old trees were 0.5 m in height and 0.9 cm in diameter. Trees may start flowering when they are 3–5 years old. They usually flower during the dry season, but in Ethiopia flowering trees have been recorded throughout the year. The flowers are pollinated by insects such as bees. Fruits take 3–5 months to ripen after flowering. They are probably mainly dispersed by birds.

''Cordia'' is a large pantropical genus of about 250 species, with the majority of the species occurring in the New World and about 35 species indigenous in tropical Africa. It is a variable genus and it has been suggested that it should be split up in several genera.

== Ecology ==

''Cordia africana'' occurs in open forest, riverine forest, edges and clearings in montane forest, and wooded grassland at 500–2200(–2700) m altitude. The annual rainfall in its area of distribution is 900–2000 mm, with a dry period of 3–4 months and an estimated mean annual temperature of 16–22°C. ''Cordia africana'' prefers deep, moist but well-drained soils, but can also be found on rocky slopes.

== Management ==

Young trees can be attacked by nematodes.

== Genetic resources ==

* Takahashi, A., 1978. Compilation of data on the mechanical properties of foreign woods (part 3) Africa. Shimane University, Matsue, Japan, 248 pp.

== Author(s) ==

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