Burkea africana

Wild syringa
Summer foliage
Autumn foliage
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Genus:	Burkea
Species:	B. africana
Binomial name
Burkea africana Hook.

The Wild syringa (Burkea africana; Bambara: Siri) is a deciduous, medium-sized, spreading, flat-topped tree belonging to the family Caesalpiniaceae. The genus was named in honour of Joseph Burke, the botanist and collector.

Range

Widespread in tropical Africa, it is found in Chad, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Zaire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa in the Transvaal region.

Description

Leaves are bipinnately compound, silvery-pubescent or glabrescent. Flowers are creamy-white, fragrant and in pendulous racemes of up to 300 mm in length. The bark is toxic, rich in alkaloids and tannins and used for tanning leather. Pulverised bark is thrown into water to paralyse fish.

Uses

If cut from the heartwood, it produces durable, insect-resistant timber with a moderately fine, wavy grain which is dark brown to reddish brown, and is used for parquet flooring and fine cabinet and furniture work.

Food plant

The foliage is browsed by the larvae of two Saturniidae moths, Rohaniella pygmaea and Imbrasia forda.

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  Flower buds
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  Foliage

External links

• Burkea africana in West African plants – A Photo Guide.
• "Burkea africana". Plantz Afrika. Retrieved 2010-02-10.