| | CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification and information retrieval |
Nomenclature. Family: FABACEAE-FABOIDEAE. Other trade relevant species: of the same genus and not protected: Pericopsis angolensis, P. laxiflora (tropical Africa), P. mooniana (Indochina to New Guinea) . Synonym(s): Afrormosia elata. Further trade and local names: assamela (CI, FR); obang (CM); bohala, wahala (CF). Code according to DIN EN 13556: PKEL.
CITES(EU) status of protection. Listed in Annex II(B).
Similar timbers. Pericopsis angolensis, P. laxiflora, P. mooniana, Acosmium spp..
Geographic distribution. Tropical Africa. Tropical regions of Central and West Africa (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, RCA, Zaïre).
Growth rings, colour, grain, etc. Growth ring boundaries distinct, or indistinct or absent (from time to time demarcated by darker latewood bands with fewer pores). Heartwood basically brown to yellow to green; with streaks, or without streaks. Sapwood distinct from heartwood colour. Wood only occasionally with colour streaks. Wood of medium weight (0,6–0,7 g/cm3). Surface not oily. Interlocked grain present.
Hardwood vs softwood. Vessels (pores) present (= hardwood).
Vessels (pores). Wood diffuse-porous. Vessels (pores) in multiples; commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows. Vessels medium (80–110–150 µm); few (9–16–23). Tyloses absent. Other deposits in heartwood vessels (pores) present (mostly dark coloured, occasionally white = lime).
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma present; not banded. Other macroscopically visible types of axial parenchyma: vasicentric, aliform lozenge type, and confluent (occasionally also unilateral, i.e., forming semicircular hoods or caps only on one side of the vessel).
Rays. Rays narrow. Large rays commonly less than 1 mm high.
Storied structure. Storied structure present. Tiers regular (horizontal or slightly inclined); 2–3 per axial millimetre.
Resin canals. Normal resin canals absent.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood not fluorescent. Water extract not fluorescent; colour shade of water extract colourless to brown. Heartwood extractives leaching out when in contact with water (brownish). Ethanol extract not fluorescent; colour shade of ethanol extract colourless to brown to yellow. Splinter burns to partial ash; colour of ash white to grey, or yellow-brown.
Additional information. • Transverse section + wood surface. Radial surface, natural size. Transverse section ca. 10x. • Comparison Pericopsis elata vs Acosmium sp.. Pericopsis elata (Afrormosia, Kokrodua). The woods of Pericopsis elata and species of Acosmium are very similar and cannot be safely separated macroscopically. Only a reliable certificate of origin can help. Acosmium sp. (Lapachillo). • Comparison Pericopsis elata vs Handroanthus sp.. Pericopsis elata (Afrormosia, Kokrodua). Handroanthus sp. (Ipê, Lapacho). The woods of Handroanthus species (Lapacho group) differ considerably from Pericopsis elata on account of the olive-brown heartwood color, yellow contents in vessels/pores and the high density (around 1,00 g/cm3).
The interactive key allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, and geographical distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘Richter, H.G., Gembruch, K., and Koch, G. 2014 onwards. CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, and Spanish. Version: 4th April 2023. www.delta-intkey.com’.
