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:Family: Mimosaceae (Leguminosae - Mimosoideae)
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
The leaves and bark contain tannins.
== Botany Description ==
Medium-sized to fairly large tree up to 30(–40) m tall, but usually smaller; bole straight, cylindrical, up to 50(–80) cm in diameter, without buttresses or with short buttresses; bark grey to dark brown; crown dense, rounded. Leaves alternate, bipinnately compound with a single pair of pinnae; stipules linear, caducous; petiole short, with large gland at apex on upper side; axes of pinnae 15–20 cm long; leaflets in 5–6 pairs per pinna, opposite, elliptical, 7–15 cm × 2–6 cm, acuminate, leathery, glabrous. Inflorescence an axillary or terminal pendent spike 6–10 cm long, arranged in panicles, many-flowered; bracts very small. Flowers bisexual, regular, 5-merous, small, sessile, hairy; calyx campanulate, c. 2 mm long, shortly toothed; petals fused at base, c. 4 mm long, pinkish to brownish orange; stamens 10, fused at base, much longer than petals, with glands at apex; ovary superior, slightly stalked, hairy, 1-celled, style long and slender. Fruit an obliquely oblong pod up to 17 cm × 4.5 cm, strongly flattened, long-attenuate at base, rounded at apex, woody, 2-valved, 5–10-seeded. Seeds angular, flattened. Seedling with epigeal germination; hypocotyl 4–5 cm long, finely reddish-hairy, epicotyl 3–4 cm long; cotyledons thick, fleshy, oblong, notched, purplish.
== Other botanical information ==
''Calpocalyx'' comprises 11 species and is restricted to the more humid forest types of West and western Central Africa. It is related to ''Xylia'' , which differs in its head-like inflorescences. In western Central Africa 9 species occur, in West Africa 2.
=== ''Calpocalyx aubrevillei'' ===''[[Calpocalyx aubrevillei]]'' Pellegr. occurs from Sierra Leone to Côte d’Ivoire, and is locally common in evergreen forest on moist soils and along watercourses, especially in Liberia. Its wood is used for construction, planks and canoes, but it is much lighter in weight, not durable and liable to warping. Ash from the wood is used for vegetable salt, the seeds are edible after cooking, and a relieving salve is made from pounded seeds in palm oil to treat women’s aching breasts. ''Calpocalyx aubrevillei'' is a fairly large tree up to 32 m tall, which differs from ''Calpocalyx brevibracteatus'' in its usually larger leaflets, which are more conspicuously veined and shortly hairy, and in its larger bracts, cylindrical calyx and larger pods.
The branches of ''Calpocalyx brevibracteatus'' are hollow and may be inhabited by ants. The fruits dehisce explosively during the dry season, shattering the seeds. In Sierra Leone flowering is in September–December, and fruiting in January–April.
== Ecology ==
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[[Category:PROTA prov]][[Category:Timbers (PROTA)]]
