Heritiera utilis

Botanical Description

Heritiera utilis is an evergreen tree with a compact and rounded crown; usually growing up to 35 metres tall but with some specimens reaching 45 metres[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The bole is cylindrical, but often crooked; it can be branchless for up to 20 metres, occasionally for 30 metres; and is up to 150cm, occasionally to 300cm, in diameter[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The bole can have high, thin and arched buttresses, or stilt-like buttresses (which are especially well developed in swamp forest)[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The tree is widely exploited for its timber, and also has local medicinal uses. Exploitation rates for this species are high and likely to be unsustainable. Consequently, the tree has been classified as 'Vulnerable' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2010)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].