Baku

The fruit of the baku are a favourite food for both small animals, particularly rodents, and forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) (5) (6). This results in the large, oil-rich seeds being carried away from the parent tree to a new location where the seeds can germinate and grow. Forest elephants were believed to be the principal or sole animal to disperse the seeds (7), but the baku has been found to also reproduce in areas where forest elephants are not present (5). Baku seedlings are tolerant of shady areas, and grow rapidly when exposed to light, but are rare due to the high levels of predation by rodents, which feed on the large, oily seeds after germination (8). Locally, the oil from the baku's seeds is eaten by people and the fruit is used to make soap (2).

Baku trees are protected by law in Côte d'Ivoire, and due to the problem of overexploitation of timbers, Ghana and Liberia have imposed bans on the exporting of baku in log form (8) (9). Despite these measures, improved regulation of the timber trade is still urgently required (2). It has been recommended that re-planting in Liberia is necessary to prevent this species' extinction (8), and in all areas in which it is harvested, certified sustainable forest management to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards are required (2). The Global Trees Campaign was set up with the aim of saving the world's most threatened tree species, of which baku is one of, and as a result, Flora and Fauna International is currently working in Liberia, with local and international partners, to improve the basis for the conservation and sustainable management of forests (2). Hopefully, through the provision of information, and the encouragement and support of sustainable-use operations (2), valuable and beautiful trees such as the baku can be conserved.

This beautiful, tall forest tree is also a commercially valuable timber species (3). The trunk of the baku is straight, cylindrical and covered in thick, grey bark with smooth ridges (3) (4). The simple leaves, around 15 centimetres long, are arranged alternately along the stem (3), and are often dry and dark (4). Baku trees bear white flowers and fruit that measures about ten centimetres long and eight centimetres wide. One to three large, oily seeds are imbedded within the yellow pulp of the fruit (3). The inner part of the trunk, or heartwood, ranges in colour from pinkish-red to a darker brownish-red (2), while the outer part, the sapwood, is lighter in colour (3).

The baku grows in evergreen, moist, semi-deciduous forest (4)

Occurs in West Africa, where it has been recorded from Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone (2).

Classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1).

The beautiful baku is threatened by over-exploitation for its attractive wood (8), which is used as timber and in the production of musical instruments (2). The forests of West Africa have been reduced to fragments due to harvesting, and primary rainforests in Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone now cover less than ten percent of their original extent (2). Ghana and Liberia both have a higher percentage of their natural forests remaining, but even in these countries, populations of baku have experienced significant declines and the extinction of this important species is a possibility (2). Illegal and poorly controlled logging pose the greatest threat to the baku's continued existence (2), but it has also been reported that the reduction of forest elephant numbers in certain areas may limit the natural regeneration of baku (2) (8).

Tieghemella heckelii Pierre ex. A. Chevalier

(Syn. Mimusops heckelii Hutchison & Dalziel)

Standard trade name: Makore

Local name: Baku (Ghana)

A large evergreen and deciduous forest tree growing up to 200 ft high and 30 ft in girth. The leaves are dark green and shining with numerous faint lateral nerves, obovate, and measure 6 × 2.5 in. The flowers are white, glabrous outside, axillary with pedicels 0.75 in long, and are crowded at tips of branchlets.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION.—Makore is moderately hard and of medium weight, seasoned weight averaging about 39 lb/ft3 and green weight about 53 lb/ft 3. The 2–3-in wide sapwood is lighter in color. The heartwood varies in color from pinkish brown to reddish brown or dark blood-red. The generally interlocked grain is sometimes straight. The luster is high, texture uniform and fine.

SEASONING.—Makore has a moderate rate of seasoning often with little degrade. British Forest Products Laboratory kiln schedule H is recommended (FPRL, 1956).

DURABILITY.—Makore is one of the most durable timbers of West Africa. It is very resistant, though occasionally attacked by pinhole borers and powder-post beetles. In preservative treatment it is extremely resistant, the sapwood being moderately resistant.

WORKING QUALITIES.—The timber works readily with machine and hand tools; it does, however, cause rapid blunting of cutting edges. A good finish is usually obtained with standard machining conditions. It stains and polishes well, giving excellent results. Nailing tends to split it. It glues satisfactorily.

USES.—It compares favorably with African mahogany and can therefore be used for all purposes which African mahogany is used. It is used for furniture and fine decorative work, for veneer and plywood.

XYLEM ANATOMY.—Growth rings absent. Wood diffuse porous. Vessels: generally in radial multiples of 3 to 6 pores but solitary pores and vertical pairs present; oval in outline; average pore diameter 66μm, range 40μm–85μm; average vessel element length 585μm, range 388μm–900μm; vessel wall thickness 3.5μm; perforation plates simple; vessel element end wall inclination slightly oblique to strongly oblique; intervascular pitting alternate, relatively large. Imperforate tracheary elements: nonseptate fibers, average length 1268μm; range 1000μm–1650μm; fibers with a few scattered simple pits on tangential walls. Vascular rays: heterogeneous, mainly multiseriate, generally 3 cells wide, 8 to 18 cells high, but biseriate cells also present. Axial parenchyma: apotracheal, banded, cells with gummy deposits within. Crystals absent.

Tieghemella heckelii (also called baku or cherry mahogany) is a tree species of the genus Tieghemella in the plant family Sapotaceae. The species occurs in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone and is threatened by habitat loss and over exploitation. This timber tree species can grow up to 45 meters tall and 1.2 meters in diameter. One individual, the Big Tree of Oda, is 66.5 m (218 ft) tall and 396 cm (13 ft) in diameter and is believed to be the tallest tree in West Africa.