Boscia angustifolia

Invasive species Disclaimer

In view of the fact that some tree species are invasive, the world Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) has put in place a policy document on Invasive Alien Species, currently under draft available at Here.

For more information on this subject, please refer to
100 of the World's worst Invasive and Alien Species.




Species Index    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Multiple Criteria Search


Abelmoschus moschatus
Acacia aneura
Acacia angustissima
Acacia aulacocarpa
Acacia auriculiformis
Acacia catechu
Acacia cincinnata
Acacia crassicarpa
Acacia elatior
Acacia erioloba
Acacia etbaica
Acacia ferruginea
Acacia glauca
Acacia holosericea
Acacia karroo*
Acacia koa
Acacia laeta
Acacia lahai
Acacia leptocarpa
Acacia leucophloea
Acacia mangium
Acacia mearnsii*
Acacia melanoxylon
Acacia mellifera
Acacia nilotica subsp nilotica
Acacia pachycarpa
Acacia pennatula
Acacia polyacantha ssp. polyacantha
Acacia saligna
Acacia senegal
Acacia seyal
Acacia sieberiana
Acacia tortilis
Acacia xanthophloea
Acrocarpus fraxinifolius
Adansonia digitata
Adenanthera pavonina
Aegle marmelos
Afzelia africana
Afzelia quanzensis
Agathis macrophylla
Agathis philippinensis
Ailanthus altissima
Ailanthus excelsa
Ailanthus triphysa
Albizia adianthifolia
Albizia amara
Albizia anthelmintica
Albizia chinensis
Albizia coriaria
Albizia ferruginea
Albizia gummifera
Albizia julibrissin
Albizia lebbeck
Albizia odoratissima
Albizia procera
Albizia saman
Albizia versicolor
Albizia zygia
Aleurites moluccana
Allanblackia floribunda
Allanblackia stuhlmannii
Allanblackia ulugurensis
Alnus acuminata
Alnus cordata
Alnus japonica
Alnus nepalensis
Alnus rubra
Alphitonia zizyphoides
Alstonia boonei
Alstonia congensis
Alstonia scholaris
Altingia excelsa
Anacardium occidentale
Andira inermis
Annona cherimola
Annona muricata
Annona reticulata
Annona senegalensis
Annona squamosa
Anogeissus latifolia
Anthocephalus cadamba
Antiaris toxicaria
Antidesma bunius
Araucaria bidwillii
Araucaria cunninghamii
Arbutus unedo
Areca catechu
Arenga pinnata
Argania spinosa
Artemisia annua
Artocarpus altilis
Artocarpus camansi
Artocarpus heterophyllus
Artocarpus integer
Artocarpus lakoocha
Artocarpus mariannensis
Asimina triloba
Ateleia herbert-smithii
Aucomea klaineana
Averrhoa bilimbi
Averrhoa carambola
Azadirachta excelsa
Azadirachta indica
Azanza garckeana

Local names:
Arabic (shajeret almarfin,sereh,sehel), Hausa (ballakani,agahini), Somali (chieh)

Boscia angustifolia is a shrub or small evergreen tree to 10 (14) m high, crown rounded, branches erect, bark smooth, light grey, fissured, glabrous, slash yellow; twigs covered with small, coriaceous leaves, in clusters of 3-10 on older branches, solitary on 1-year-old shoots.

Leaves lanceolate or linear, oblong, mucronate, obtuse or retuse at the tip, rounded to cuneate at base, 6.5 cm x 1.5 cm, coriaceous, spread or erect, mat-green, nerves prominent, venation reticulate, midrib prominent below, stipules absent.

Flowers small (7 mm), greenish-white, clustered in short, simple, terminal racemes about 7 cm in diameter, fragrant, sepals 4, ovate, stamina 3-8.

Fruit a berry, spherical, 6-13 mm in diameter, often in groups of 3-5, rough skinned, yellowish when mature, containing 7 cream-coloured seeds.

Two varieties are recognized: var. corymbosa’s leaves are minutely pubescent and variety angustifolia leaves are completely glabrous on the underside.

The specific epithet angustifolia means narrow-leaved.

Ecology

B. angustifolia is a Sahelo-Sudanian species whose area of distribution extends from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. In Sudan it is found in all Savanna types and in deciduous woodland and bush land in West Africa. It usually grows in very arid sites such as hills, laterite outcrops and cliffs, and sometimes dry riverbeds.

Native range
Botswana, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Tree management

Trees are pruned to 2 m for forage production in Niger.

B. angustifolia is a Sahelo-Sudanian species whose area of distribution extends from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. In Sudan it is found in all Savanna types and in deciduous woodland and bush land in West Africa. It usually grows in very arid sites such as hills, laterite outcrops and cliffs, and sometimes dry riverbeds.

B. angustifolia is difficult to raise but direct seeding is recommended for its propagation.

The shrub readily establishes itself in adverse conditions and has potential for reclaiming degraded sites.

  Fruit and seeds are edible after cooking. Stripped bark is eaten mixed with millet or as soup in West Africa. Pieces of boiled wood are used to sweeten milk.

The foliage is consumed by camels and small livestock, especially at the time of flowering and towards the end of the dry season.

Apiculture: In Zambia it is a good source of bee forage.

The tree was formerly converted into charcoal for gunpowder.

Timber:  Wood hard, used in carpentry and water storage vessels.

Shade or shelter:  The tree provides shade for livestock.

Medicine: Bark is applied on swollen feet, for kidney pains and stiff neck, roots for chest pains, fruit as a laxative. Pounded leaves are used as tonic for horses and camels.