The African birch (Anogeissus leiocarpa (DC.) Guill. & Perr.) is a slow growing evergreen shrub or small to medium-sized tree, reaching up to 15-30 m in height. The bark is grey to mottled pale and dark brown, scaly, flaking off in rectangular patches, fibrous and exuding a dark gum. Leaves are alternate to nearly opposite, simple and entire, covered in dense silky hair when young. Flowers are pentamerous, pale yellow and fragrant. Fruits are rounded samaras, 4-10 mm × 6-11 mm × 2-2.5 mm, with 2 wings, and with a yellowish to reddish brown colour. They contain one seed, enclosed horizontally in a dense cone-like fructification (Andary et al., 2005).
The leaves are famous for their use as a yellow dye in ancestral Bogolan textile techniques in Mali and Burkina Faso. The wood makes an excellent fuel and yields good charcoal. The bark, leaves and roots have ethno-medicinal properties (antimicrobial and anthelmintic activity) and are usually taken as decoctions or aqueous extracts (Andary et al., 2005; Agaie et al., 2007). Derivatives of ellagic acids ("anogelline") extracted from the bark have been shown to delay the degradation of collagen, and the tree is grown commercially since 2000 for the production of cosmetics in the Koro region of Burkina Faso (Jansen et al., 2005).
Anogeissus leiocarpa is a browse species in soudano-sahelian regions (Tézenas du Montcel, 1994).
