Baphia nitida
Baphia nitida (camwood, also barwood), also known as African sandalwood, is a shrubby, leguminous, hard-wooded tree from central west Africa. This wood is of a very fine colour, and is used in woodturning for making knife handles and similar articles.
Camwood | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
(unranked): | |
(unranked): | |
(unranked): | |
Order: | |
Family: | |
Genus: | |
Species: | B. nitida |
Binomial name | |
Baphia nitida Lodd. | |
The distribution of Baphia nitida. | |
Synonyms[1] | |
|
The tree's bark and heartwood are commonly used to make a brilliant but non-permanent red dye, which is soluble in alkali.
Camwood is known as "osun" in Yoruba.
Pterocarpin is a pterocarpan found in B. nitida.[2]
Osun (camwood) extract is also used in some soaps and skin treatments, although there aren't published studies about its efficacy or safety.
Baphia nitida is a small, understorey, evergreen tree, often planted in villages.
References
- Soladoye MO (1985). "A revision of Baphia (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae)". Kew Bulletin. 40 (2): 291–386. doi:10.2307/4108263. JSTOR 4108263.
- "Pterocarpin at knapsack_jsp". Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
External links
- Dressler, S.; Schmidt, M. & Zizka, G. (2014). "Baphia nitida". African plants – a Photo Guide. Frankfurt/Main: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg.
. The American Cyclopædia. 1879.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.