moabi

plural moabis

1. A tree of species Baillonella toxisperma, found throughout subtropical forests of Africa, used for its oil.

   The inside walls are sheathed in an amber-colored veneer about the thickness of two sheets of paper, cut from a single log of an African moabi tree.

   2009 January 29, Daniel J. Wakin, “Musicians Hear Heaven in Tully Hall’s New Sound”, in New York Times

   2 more examples

   […] Moreover, moabi trees situated in the agroforestry zone outside the UFM, reserved to the local communities, will not be exploited, increasing the availability of resource for the villagers. Surveys realized in the agroforestry zones show an average density of moabis (more than 70 cm of diameter) of 0,019/ha, representing an average of 314 tree stands for the agroforestry zone next to the UFM 10 039 (PFC, 2003a, b, c).

   2004, Cédric Vermeulen, Jean-Louis Doucet, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Non-Timber Forest Products in Favour of Local Communities within Integrated Forest Management in Central Africa, in International Symposium: Tropical Forests in a Changing Global Context: Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Brussels, 8-9 November, 2004, pp. 267-280

   In these forests the biggest moabis emerge from the canopy at a height of 70 metres and their large sinuous branches overhang the old growth (or "primary") forest. […] To reach such proportions, the moabi must withstand competition from the other species in the undergrowth, and wait for an old tree to fall in order to make the most of the resultant gap in the canopy. Moabis which dominate the forest are therefore very old, generally between 600 and 700 years of age, although some scientists have even reported trees which were up to 2,500 years old.

   2007, Sylvain Angerand, The exploitation of moabi: conflict surrounding a tree of high social value, in Concessions to Poverty (2007)

   Synonyms: African pearwood, djave nut