The colour green is relatively quite visible around you in a place like the African landscape, especially the rainforest areas. Arable land and green vegetation are some things we really own in the African rainforest regions.
Tropical trees and a variety of plants are quite visibly noticed, especially in underdeveloped parts of the continent where the land has not been "touched"
In the South West part of Nigeria, woodwork is a common skilled job. We have quite a number of people who fell trees and get timber for wooden work from them.
It is known to last for long and be resistant yo termites.
One of such economical trees is the African Teak. There are various subspecies of plants referred to as African Teak. But they are all in the speci family of trees called the Milicia excelsa.
In the Yoruba dialect, it is called the "Ìrókò" tree.
It stands tall to heights that can reach 600ft or more. The bark may be grayish or brownish. But it notably has it's first branches well above the ground.
This tree appears usually in small spaced groups or in isolation. It highly inbreeding and is slated by some as a 'threatened species'.
It however remains so important, not only because of the economical uses, but the myths attached to it. It is often referred to as a sacred tree. Some people offer sacrifices to it. They would rather idolise it in some places than actually fell it. Skeptical as it may sound, it helps to preserve the speci.
As a young boy, my father would tell me that ancestral spirits lived in the Ìrókò tree, so I avoided getting close to them back then ad a boy.
Now I can stand beside one😅
Plant an Ìrókò today
Selah.
All pictures shot by me
Camera - Samsung Note 10 Plus