Erythrina burttii

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Common products:
- Timber from the bole used for light structural timber, interior joinery, furniture, tool handles, and turned objects (ICRAF, FAO).
- Fuelwood and charcoal production for domestic and small‑scale industrial use (FAO).
- Wood processed into veneer for interior paneling and decorative plywood (FAO).
- Leaves and young shoots are occasionally used as livestock browse, providing supplemental protein for cattle and goats.
- The wood is also suitable for making crates and pallets for transporting agricultural produce.

Industrial and craft applications:
- Fine‑grained hardwood valued for carving decorative reliefs and small sculptures (FAO).
- Bark yields a bast fiber used for rope, cordage, and woven mats (ICRAF).
- The wood’s moderate hardness and low resin content make it suitable for producing turned bowls and small wooden tool handles (FAO).
- Bark fibers are also spun into twine used for tying bundles of harvested crops (ICRAF).

Wood and fiber:
- Air‑dry density ≈0.5 g cm⁻³; Janka hardness ≈1 000 lbf; low shrinkage (≈2–3 % from green to 12 % MC) giving good dimensional stability (FAO).
- Bast fibers consist of ≈65 % cellulose and ≈20 % lignin, providing high tensile strength and decay resistance (ICRAF).
- The sapwood is light in color, while the heartwood is reddish‑brown with distinct grain patterns that enhance the visual appeal of furniture (FAO).
- Bark fibers are also processed into hand‑spun yarn for traditional textile production (ICRAF).

Properties relevant to use:
- Moderate density and hardness give good machinability and low shrinkage, suitable for interior timber applications (FAO).
- Bark fibers have high tensile strength and resistance to decay, extending rope life in tropical climates (ICRAF).
- Wood exhibits a low coefficient of thermal expansion, making it suitable for applications requiring dimensional stability under temperature fluctuations (FAO).

Standards and regulation:
- Classified under Tanzania’s Timber Grading Rules as “Class II – Light Structural Timber” and subject to export licensing by the Tanzania Forest Service (TFS, 2015).
- Not listed under CITES; international trade is monitored through the FAO/ITTO reporting framework.
- International timber trade follows the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) guidelines, which include species‑specific export quotas for sustainably harvested species (ITTO).

Sustainability and sourcing:
- Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List; sustainable harvest guidelines limit extraction to 1–2 trees ha⁻¹ in natural stands (IUCN, ICRAF).
- Community nurseries propagate seedlings for agro‑forestry planting, supporting both conservation and local wood supply (ICRAF).
- Harvest volumes are monitored annually by the Tanzania Forest Service to ensure extraction remains within sustainable limits.
- Regenerative agroforestry practices intercrop Erythrina burttii with food crops to improve soil fertility and reduce erosion (ICRAF).

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No reference genome is available on NCBI yet. We are constantly monitoring for new data.

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