Ophiobotrys zenkeri (PROTA)

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Introduction

List of species

General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Medicinal
Timber

Ophiobotrys zenkeri Gilg

Protologue: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 40(4): 516 (1908).

Family: Flacourtiaceae (APG: Salicaceae)

Origin and geographic distribution

Ophiobotrys zenkeri occurs from Liberia east to the Central African Republic and south to Gabon and western DR Congo.

Uses

The wood is used locally, but there is little technical information on its uses. In Ghana it has been used for utensils including mortars.

Properties

The pale brownish yellow wood is moderately heavy and hard. It has some resemblance to the wood of Scottellia klaineana Pierre.

Description

Shrub or small to medium-sized tree up to 30(–40) m tall; bole usually straight and long, up to 90(–120) cm in diameter, with steep and flat buttresses up to 4 m high; bark surface fairly smooth, peeling off in thin flakes, yellowish green to pale brown or pale grey, inner bark thin, brittle, yellow-orange; crown rounded, rather open, with spreading branches; twigs slightly short-hairy or glabrous. Leaves alternate, simple and entire; stipules minute, caducous; petiole c. 1 cm long; blade elliptical, 7–15 cm × 2.5–6 cm, cuneate to obtuse at base, acuminate at apex, papery to thin-leathery, glabrous, with 1–2 pairs of lateral veins from near the base of leaf blade and c. 3 pairs of additional lateral veins. Inflorescence a terminal panicle c. 20 cm long, with long, slender branches, short-hairy, many-flowered. Flowers bisexual or male, regular, small, creamy to greenish white, scented; pedicel c. 1 mm long; sepals 5, free, ovate, c. 2 mm long; petals absent; stamens 5–6, c. 2.5 mm long; disk with hairy lobes alternating with stamens; ovary superior, ovoid, hairy, 1-celled, style thick, with 3 spreading branches. Fruit an ellipsoid capsule up to 1.5 cm × 1 cm, pointed, short-hairy, pinkish to reddish, dehiscent with 3 valves, 3–6-seeded. Seeds with small, lobed aril. Seedling with epigeal germination; hypocotyl 3–3.5 cm long, epicotyl c. 2 cm long, short-hairy; cotyledons leafy, rounded, c. 1.5 cm long; first leaves alternate, slightly toothed.

Other botanical information

In Côte d’Ivoire trees have been recorded to flower in June and fruits have been collected in August–October.

Ophiobotrys comprises a single species. It is related to Casearia and several genera restricted to tropical America and tropical Asia.

Ecology

Ophiobotrys zenkeri occurs mainly in lowland semi-deciduous forest.

Management

There are about 25,000 seeds per kg. The seeds germinate within 8–12 days after sowing, but the germination rate is reportedly low, 15–25%. Larger trees are often difficult to fell because they have large buttresses. Freshly harvested logs sink in water and cannot be transported by river.

Genetic resources

Although Ophiobotrys zenkeri is quite widespread, it seems to be uncommon or even rare in many regions within its distribution area. From some countries very few herbarium collections are available, e.g. from Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon.

Prospects

Very little is known about Ophiobotrys zenkeri. It seems to be rarely exploited for timber, probably because it is uncommon and has hard wood and large buttresses.

Major references

• Aubréville, A., 1959. La flore forestière de la Côte d’Ivoire. Deuxième édition révisée. Tome troisième. Publication No 15. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 334 pp.

• Burkill, H.M., 1994. The useful plants of West Tropical Africa. 2nd Edition. Volume 2, Families E–I. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. 636 pp.

• Normand, D., 1960. Atlas des bois de la Côte d’Ivoire. Tome 3. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 182 pp.

• Normand, D. & Paquis, J., 1976. Manuel d’identification des bois commerciaux. Tome 2. Afrique guinéo-congolaise. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 335 pp.

• Sleumer, H. & Bamps, P., 1976. Flacourtiaceae (seconde partie). In: Bamps, P. (Editor). Flore d’Afrique centrale. Spermatophytes. Jardin botanique national de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium. 45 pp.

Other references

• de la Mensbruge, G., 1966. La germination et les plantules des essences arborées de la forêt dense humide de la Côte d’Ivoire. Centre Technique Forestier Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 389 pp.

• Hawthorne, W.D., 1995. Ecological profiles of Ghanaian forest trees. Tropical Forestry Papers 29. Oxford Forestry Institute, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. 345 pp.

• Hawthorne, W. & Jongkind, C., 2006. Woody plants of western African forests: a guide to the forest trees, shrubs and lianes from Senegal to Ghana. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. 1023 pp.

• Hul, S., 1995. Flacourtiaceae. Flore du Gabon. Volume 34. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 82 pp.

• InsideWood, undated. [Internet] http://insidewood.lib.ncsu.edu/search/. August 2011.

• Irvine, F.R., 1961. Woody plants of Ghana, with special reference to their uses. Oxford University Press, London, United Kingdom. 868 pp.

• Keay, R.W.J., 1954. Flacourtiaceae. In: Keay, R.W.J. (Editor). Flora of West Tropical Africa. Volume 1, part 1. 2nd Edition. Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations, London, United Kingdom. pp. 185–190.

• Keay, R.W.J., 1989. Trees of Nigeria. A revised version of Nigerian trees (1960, 1964) by Keay, R.W.J., Onochie, C.F.A. & Stanfield, D.P. Clarendon Press, Oxford, United Kingdom. 476 pp.

• Miller, R.B., 1975. Systematic anatomy of the xylem and comments on the relationships of Flacourtiaceae. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 56: 20–102.

• Tailfer, Y., 1989. La forêt dense d’Afrique centrale. Identification pratique des principaux arbres. Tome 2. CTA, Wageningen, Pays-Bas. pp. 465–1271.

Author(s)

• R.H.M.J. Lemmens, PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands

Correct citation of this article

Lemmens, R.H.M.J., 2012. Ophiobotrys zenkeri Gilg. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J., Louppe, D. & Oteng-Amoako, A.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. Accessed 23 April 2026.

• See the Prota4U database.