Carapa procera

West African Plants

West African Plants

NAME:  Carapa procera

FAMILY: Meliaceae

COMMON NAMES:  Monkey cola, crabwood, andiroba

LOCAL NAMES:  Irere, Agogo, abo-oganwo, Nkwo

MORPHORLOGICAL DESCRIPTION: Carapa procera is a flowering plant sprawling in swamp forest but a tall tree in lowland rain forest. These are trees up to 30 meters tall.

USEFUL PART(s):  Bark, seeds, leaves

GENERAL USES:

  • Timber

  • Oil from seed as mosquito repellant

  • Oil soap making

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION:  Tanzania, Senegal, Angola, Brazil

WHY IS IT GREEN?

  • ringworms

  • boils

  • rheumatic pains

  • antipyretic

  • purgative

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Unknown

FUN FACT

Can be categorize as either red crabwood or white crabwood based on their location

FURTHER READINGS

Dembélé, U., Lykke, A. M., Koné, Y., Témé, B., & Kouyaté, A. M. (2015). Use-value and importance of socio-cultural knowledge on Carapa procera trees in the Sudanian zone in Mali. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-11-14

Djenontin, T. S., Wotto, V. D., Avlessi, F., Lozano, P., Sohounhloué, D. K. C., & Pioch, D. (2012). Composition of Azadirachta indica and Carapa procera (Meliaceae) seed oils and cakes obtained after oil extraction. Industrial Crops and Products. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2012.01.005

Doligez, A., & Joly, H. I. (1997). Genetic diversity and spatial structure within a natural stand of a tropical forest tree species, Carapa procera (Meliaceae), in French Guiana. Heredity. https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1997.124