KHAYA ANTHOTHECA (WELW.) C. DC. (MELIACEAE) - AN EXOTIC SPECIES IN BANGLADESH

Khaya A. Juss., a member of Meliaceae, is a small genus with six species, four in tropical Africa and two in Madagascar and the Comores (Wiselius, 1998). The genus is easily recognized by its paripinnate leaves and round or mainly spherical 4-5 valved, dehiscent woody capsules. Members of Khaya was introduced in many trial plantations of Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia (Wiselius, 1998), but there is no record of its introduction in Bangladesh. Khaya species are tall with cylindrical boles and fast growing in nature. About two decades back one species of Khaya was introduced in Bangladesh by nursery men as a fast growing tree species and gave a fancy name, lombu meaning tall tree (in Bangla ‘lomba’ means tall and the vernacular name was derived from the vernacular word lomba). It is being cultivated in homesteads almost throughout the country, but mostly in south-western parts of Bangladesh. Because of the lack of flowering and fruiting materials it could not be identified. Its flowering and fruiting specimens were collected from Jessore in 2009. The botanical samples are preserved in Bangladesh Forest Research Institute Herbarium (BFRIH), Chittagong. With above flowering materials the exotic lombu tree has been identified as Khaya anthotheca (Welw.) C. DC. from the Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Taxonomic enumeration of Khaya anthotheca based on Bangladesh materials is as follows.

Africa and two in Madagascar and the Comores (Wiselius, 1998).The genus is easily recognized by its paripinnate leaves and round or mainly spherical 4-5 valved, dehiscent woody capsules.Members of Khaya was introduced in many trial plantations of Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia (Wiselius, 1998), but there is no record of its introduction in Bangladesh.Khaya species are tall with cylindrical boles and fast growing in nature.About two decades back one species of Khaya was introduced in Bangladesh by nursery men as a fast growing tree species and gave a fancy name, lombu meaning tall tree (in Bangla 'lomba' means tall and the vernacular name was derived from the vernacular word lomba).It is being cultivated in homesteads almost throughout the country, but mostly in south-western parts of Bangladesh.Because of the lack of flowering and fruiting materials it could not be identified.Its flowering and fruiting specimens were collected from Jessore in 2009.The botanical samples are preserved in Bangladesh Forest Research Institute Herbarium (BFRIH), Chittagong.With above flowering materials the exotic lombu tree has been identified as Khaya anthotheca (Welw.)C. DC. from the Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Taxonomic enumeration of Khaya anthotheca based on Bangladesh materials is as follows.(1911).
Ecology: In east and southern Africa, it is found in rainforest and riparian forest, up to 1,500 m altitude.In plantations it requires fertile deep soils and plenty of water.It is susceptible to fire (Maroyi, 2008).Origin and geographical distribution: Khaya anthotheca is widespread, from Guinea Bissau east to Uganda and Tanzania, and south to Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.It is fairly widely grown in plantations within its natural area of distribution, but also in South Africa, tropical Asia and tropical America (Maroyi, 2008).In Bangladesh it is planted in homesteads throughout plain districts with alluvial soils.
Uses: The wood is highly valued for furniture, cabinet work, decorative boxes and cases and veneer, and is also commonly used for window frames, paneling, doors and stair cases.It is suitable for light flooring, ship building, vehicle bodies, sporting goods, musical instruments, toys, novelties, carving, plywood and pulpwood (Maroyi, 2008).The bitter bark is widely used in traditional medicine in Africa.It is taken to treat cough, whereas bark decoctions or infusions are taken to treat fever, cold, pneumonia, abdominal pain, vomiting and gonorrhea, and applied externally to wounds, sores and ulcers.Pulverized bark is taken as aphrodisiac and to treat male impotence.In Tanzania, root decoctions are drunk to treat anemia, dysentery and rectal prolapse.In this country, the bark has been used by the Shambaa people for reddish brown dyeing.In DR Congo, the leaves are said to be used for making arrow-poison.K. anthotheca is fairly commonly planted as an ornamental shade tree and roadside tree.It is occasionally planted as a shade tree in agroforestry systems (Maroyi, 2008).
Note: Hossain and Uddin (2010) cited lambu as Dysoxylum gobarum/ D. procerum.In Dysoxylum, the cells of ovary are 1-2 ovuled, but in Khaya cells of ovary are many ovuled.So it seems that lambu identified by Hossain and Uddin (2010) as Dysoxylum was not correctly identified, because our specimens, popularly known as lombu contains many ovules in cells of the ovary.K. anthotheca is very close to K. grandifoliola C. DC.The leaves of species examined from Bangladesh look like K. grandifoliola, but this species has larger fruits with thicker valves.The 4valved fruits also indicate K. senegalensis (Desr.) A. Juss., but this species has smaller and fewer leaflets (Xander van der Burgt, personal communication).