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<big>''[[Combretum schumannii]]'' Engl.</big>
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Combretum schumannii'' (PROTA)}}
:Protologue: Pflanzenw. Ost-Afrikas C: 289 (1895).
''Combretum'' is a very large genus, comprising about 250 species and distributed worldwide in the tropics and subtropics. About 140 species occur in tropical Africa. In several African floras, ''Combretum engleri'' Schinz from the western part of southern Africa has been included in the synonymy of ''Combretum schumannii'', although the former is only a shrub up to 4 m tall with smaller leaves and fruits. More research is needed to elucidate the status of ''Combretum engleri''; it might be a separate taxon (either on specific or infraspecific level), or the differences might be due to climatic conditions.
=== ''Combretum kraussii'' ===''[[Combretum kraussii]]'' Hochst. occurs in eastern South Africa and Swaziland, but a few specimens have been collected in southern Mozambique. It is a shrub or small tree up to 12 m tall. Its yellow wood with usually straight grain and fine texture is suitable for flooring, joinery, mine props, ship building, vehicle bodies, furniture, cabinet work, handles, ladders, sporting goods, toys, novelties, agricultural implements and turnery; it is also used as firewood. At 12% moisture content, the density of the wood is about 770 kg/m³, modulus of rupture 110 N/mm², modulus of elasticity 13,230 N/mm² and compression parallel to grain 63 N/mm². Although the wood is hard and tough, it is moderately easy to work; it polishes well. It is only moderately durable, and resistant to impregnation by preservatives. The roots of ''Combretum kraussii'' are used in traditional medicine to treat wounds, and as an anodyne, tonic and appetite stimulant. The pliable young stems are used in basket making.
== Anatomy ==
*Growth rings: 2: growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent. *Vessels: 5: wood diffuse-porous; (7: vessels in diagonal and/or radial pattern); 9: vessels exclusively solitary (90% or more); 13: simple perforation plates; 22: intervessel pits alternate; 23: shape of alternate pits polygonal; 26: intervessel pits medium (7–10 μm); 29: vestured pits; 30: vessel-ray pits with distinct borders; similar to intervessel pits in size and shape throughout the ray cell; 41: mean tangential diameter of vessel lumina 50–100 μm; (45: vessels of two distinct diameter classes, wood not ring-porous); 47: 5–20 vessels per square millimetre; 58: gums and other deposits in heartwood vessels. *Tracheids and fibres: 60: vascular/vasicentric tracheids present; 61: fibres with simple to minutely bordered pits; 66: non-septate fibres present; 70: fibres very thick-walled. *Axial parenchyma: 83: axial parenchyma confluent; 92: four (3–4) cells per parenchyma strand. *Rays: 97: ray width 1–3 cells; (104: all ray cells procumbent); (109: rays with procumbent, square and upright cells mixed throughout the ray); 115: 4–12 rays per mm; 116: <font size="1">≥</font> 12 rays per mm. *Mineral inclusions: 156: crystals in enlarged cells.
(P. Détienne & P. Baas)
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[[Category:PROTA prov]][[Category:Timbers (PROTA)]]
