Berlinia grandiflora is a deciduous, woody, leguminous tree primarily native to the forest galleries, savannas, and rocky slopes of tropical West and Central Africa. It is recognized for its high socio-economic value as a timber source and for the medicinal and food uses of its bark and seeds.
Berlinia grandiflora (family Fabaceae) varies from a shrub only 2 to 5 metres tall to a spreading tree with a dense, rounded crown, usually 20 metres and exceptionally 30 metres tall, with a trunk 10 to 70 cm across. It bears very fragrant, large, conspicuous white flowers. The heartwood is pinkish-brown with purple or dark brown veins, moderately hard, heavy and durable, and works well with ordinary tools.
It is a tree of moist places in western tropical Africa, from Sierra Leone and Guinea to the Central African Republic, Congo and northern Angola. It grows in fringing and gallery forest along rivers, in flooded and swampy forest and in disturbed forest, sometimes in large numbers. Unusually for its family, it does not form nitrogen-fixing root nodules. It is grown from seed and is listed as of Least Concern by the IUCN.
Source: Useful Tropical Plants database (Fern, K.).
The bark, leaves, and roots are widely used in traditional medicine to treat infections, intestinal worms, pain, fever, liver problems, gastrointestinal disorders, and wounds.
Its seeds are eaten as beans or used as seasoning in parts of Cameroon and Nigeria and are valued for their nutritional fat content.
The bark and pods are used for rope-making, household tools, and pot-cleaning nets, and the tree is preserved in farms and plantations for shade and cultural utility.
The tree is best propagated through stem cuttings from young shoots, which root successfully in soil–sawdust mixtures within about six weeks.