Baikiaea is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes six species of trees native to sub-Saharan Africa. Species range from Nigeria eastwards to Uganda and Tanzania and south to Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. Habitats range from lowland tropical rain forest to seasonally dry forest and woodland or savannas on well-drained soils.[1]

Baikiaea
Baikiaea plurijuga in Namibia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Detarioideae
Tribe: Detarieae
Genus: Baikiaea
Benth. (1865)
Species[1]

Six species are accepted:[1]

Baikiaea plurijuga is the characteristic tree of two dry woodland ecoregions of southern Africa, the Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands and Zambezian Baikiaea woodlands, where it can grow in near-monodominant stands.[2]

The genus is named after William Balfour Baikie (1824-1864), Scottish explorer of the Niger River.

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c Baikiaea Benth. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  2. ^ Burgess, N., Hales, J. D., Underwood, E. Terrestrial Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment. Island Press, Washington DC. 2004.