e*r. /<?73 
 
 
 INFORMATION L 
 FQRFIGN WOODS 
 
 1 
 Forest Products Laboratory, - Forest Service 
 
 U. S. Department of Agriculture 
 
 195^ 
 
 ODOKO 
 Scottellia coriacea A. Che v. 
 Family: Flacourtiaceae 
 
 By 
 
 JEANNETTE M. KRYN, Forest Products Technologist 
 Division of Silvicultural Relations 
 
 Distribution and Habitat 
 
 There are more than 70 genera in the family Flacourtiaceae, widely distributed 
 throughout the tropics. The genus Scottellia occurs in V/est Africa from 
 Liberia to southern Nigeria and is reported to be abundant (2, k, 6) .— 
 
 The Tree 
 
 Size 
 
 Odoko varies from a medium height of 50 to 60 feet to a maximum of 100 feet, 
 usually with a straight bole . Diameters range from about a foot to 2 or 3 feet 
 (2, k, 6). 
 
 1 
 
 "Maintained at Madison, Wis., in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin. 
 
 2 
 
 "Underlined numbers in parentheses refer to the list of numbered references 
 at the end of the article. 
 
 Report No. 1973 -1- Agriculture -Mad is on 
 
Bark 
 
 The outer "bark is reddish (h) . 
 
 Leaves, Flowers, Fruits 
 
 The leaves are smooth and leathery, oval, and 3 to 5 inches long. The 
 flowers are small, creamy yellow, and slightly fragrant. The fruits grow 
 in clusters and are elongated capsules with a few orange-red seeds (h) . 
 
 The Wood 
 
 Color 
 
 The wood is pale yellow or straw-colored, without distinction between sap- 
 wood and heartwood . It is subject to blue stain (2, k, 6). 
 
 Texture, Grain, Figure 
 
 Odoko is generally straight -grained, but it may occasionally have inter- 
 locked grain. The texture is fine. A distinct "silver-grain" figure 
 appears on the quarter-cut surface because of the relatively conspicuous 
 rays (2, h, 6). 
 
 Weight 
 
 In tests conducted at the British Forest Products Eesearch Laboratory, air- 
 dried wood at 12 percent moisture content weighed hi pounds per cubic foot; 
 green wood at ^0 percent moisture content weighed 53 pounds per cubic foot (l) 
 
 Mechanical Properties 
 
 Values obtained for the mechanical properties of odoko in the green and air- 
 dry condition are presented in table 1 (l) . 
 
 Seasoning and Shrinkage 
 
 Odoko is reported to develop checks and splits during air-drying. Blue 
 stain may also occur. Warping is usually not excessive. 
 
 In kiln drying, the wood has a tendency to split and existing shakes tend 
 
 to enlarge. There is little distortion in drying (2, 6). Kiln schedule 5 of 
 
 the British Forest Products Eesearch Laboratory has been recommended for this 
 
 Report No. 1973 ~ 2 " 
 
timber (£) • The U. S. Forest Products Laboratory schedule that appears 
 most appropriate for k/k stock is T6-D2 (10). Limited tests at the British 
 Forest Products research Laboratory resulted in the following shrinkage 
 data on kiln drying from the green condition to a moisture content of about 
 10 percent (2) : 
 
 Tangential l/2 to 5/8 inch per foot , or 
 
 k.O to 5*0 percent. 
 
 Radial l/k to 5/16 inch per foot, or 
 
 2.3 to 2.k percent. 
 
 Durability 
 
 Odoko is not resistant to decay, but it can easily be treated with pre- 
 servatives (2, 6). 
 
 Working Characteristics 
 
 The wood is rated moderately easy to work. It finishes smoothly in planing 
 and molding and takes a good polish, but some care is needed to prevent 
 chipping in certain operations because of a slight brittleness. Quarter- 
 sawn surfaces sometimes tend to flake. The timber is liable to split in 
 nailing, but it has good gluing and screwholding characteristics (2, 6). 
 
 H. A. Cox (^) reported that logs from Nigeria showed a tendency to develop 
 radial splits sometimes reaching to the circumference of the log during the 
 process of cross-cutting to lengths suitable for the veneer cutting machine, 
 This made peeling difficult, for the veneer tended to break across as it 
 was removed from the peeler. 
 
 Uses 
 
 Odoko is a good general utility timber somewhat similar to beech. It should 
 prove useful for table tops as in bakeries and laundries, brush backs, shoe 
 heels, and domestic woodenware (2, 6). 
 
 Structure 
 
 Growth rings are not distinct. Pores are small and not visible without a 
 lens. Wood parenchyma is absent or very sparse. Pays are conspicuous 
 on the cross section but not on the tangential section; they are notably 
 high and prominent on the radial surface where they stand out as lighter 
 than the background (8, 9, 11). 
 
 Report No. 1973 
 
References 
 
 1. Armstrong, F. H. 
 
 1953. The Strength Properties of Timber. 
 
 Bull. No. 28, p. 39, Dept. of Sci. and Indus. 
 Research, Forest Products Research Laboratory, 
 Princes Risborough, Aylesbury, Bucks, England. 
 
 2. British Forest Products Research Laboratory 
 
 19^5* A Handbook of Empire Timbers. 
 
 Pp. 76-77« Dept. of Sci. and Indus. Research, 
 Forest Products Research Laboratory, Princes 
 Risborough, Aylesbury, Bucks, England. 
 
 3. 
 
 1952. Kiln-Drying Schedules. 
 
 Leaflet No. k-2, Revised March, 1952. Dept. of Sci, 
 and Indus. Research, Forest Products Research 
 Laboratory, Princes Risborough, Aylesbury, Bucks, 
 England . 
 
 h. Cooper, G. P., and Record, S. J. 
 
 1931« The Evergreen Forests of Liberia. 
 
 Bull. No. 31, p. 28, Yale Univ. School of 
 Forestry, New Haven, Conn. 
 
 5. Cox. H. A. 
 
 19^0. Notes on Empire Timbers. 
 
 Empire Forestry Journal Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 292- 
 29^. London. 
 
 (Rev. in Trop. Woods No. 66, p. 51, June 19^1 
 Yale Univ. School of Forestry, New Haven, Conn.) 
 
 ^6. Jay. B. A. 
 
 1950. Timbers of West Africa. 3rd. ed. 
 
 Pp. 65-66. Timber Development Association, Ltd., 
 London. 
 
 7. Markwardt, L. J. and Wilson, T. R. C. 
 
 1935 • Strength and Related Properties of Wood Grown 
 in the United States. 
 
 U. S. Dept. Agr. Tech. Bull. No. 479. 99 pp. 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 8. Metcalfe, C. R. and Chalk, L. 
 
 1950. Anatomy of the Dicotyledons. 
 
 Vol. 1, pp. 116-127. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 
 England . 
 
 Report No. 1973 ~^~ 
 
9. Stone, H. and Cox. H. A. 
 
 1S22. Timbers of Nigeria. 
 
 Pp. 11-12. School of Forestry, Univ., 
 Cambridge, England. 
 
 10. Torgeson, 0. W. 
 
 1951. Schedules for the Kiln Drying of Wood. 
 
 U. S. Forest Products Lab. Kept. No. D1791, 9 pp. 
 
 11. Tupper, Walter W. 
 
 193^ • Preliminary Report on the Wood Structure of 
 the Flacourtiaceae . 
 
 Trop. Woods No. 38, pp. 11-14, Yale Univ. School 
 of Forestry, New Haven, Conn. 
 
 Report No. 1973 -5- 
 
Table 1. -- Mechanical properties of odoko (Scottellia coriacea) and the 
 comparable hardwoods, European beech ( Fagus sylvatica ) and 
 
 American beech ( Fagus grand if olia )! 
 
 Property- 
 
 Species and origin 
 
 Odoko 
 ( Scottellia 
 coriacea ) 
 Nigeria 
 
 American 
 Beech 
 ( Fagus 
 grand i - 
 folia ) 
 United 
 States 
 
 European 
 Beech 
 ( Fagus 
 sylvatica ) 
 
 United 
 Kingdom 
 
 European 
 
 Beech 
 ( Fagus 
 sylvatica) 
 
 "Europe 
 
 Moisture content 
 
 Green percent 
 
 Air-dry percent 
 
 Weight per cubic foot 
 
 At 50 percent moisture content. lb. 
 At 12 percent moisture content. lb. 
 
 Static bending 
 
 Modulus of rupture 
 
 Green p 
 
 Air-dry p 
 
 Modulus of elasticity 
 
 Green 1,000 p 
 
 Air-dry 1,000 p 
 
 Work to maximum load 
 
 Green in . -lb . 
 
 Air-dry in. -lb. 
 
 Total work 
 
 Green in . -lb . 
 
 Air-dry in. -lb. 
 
 s.i 
 i 
 
 s 
 
 per cu 
 per cu 
 
 per cu 
 per cu 
 
 .8.1, 
 
 .s.i, 
 
 . in. 
 . in, 
 
 . in, 
 
 . in, 
 
 Impact bending 
 
 Height of drop causing complete 
 failure (50-pound hammer) 
 
 Green in , 
 
 Air-dry in , 
 
 Compression parallel to grain 
 Maximum crushing strength 
 
 Green p. s.i, 
 
 Air-dry p. s.i. 
 
 65 
 12 
 
 53 
 
 in 
 
 11,500 
 16,000 
 
 1,750 
 1,990 
 
 12.7 
 12.0 
 
 22.2 
 16.9 
 
 5,390 
 8,880 
 
 12 
 
 ^5 
 
 8,600 
 Ik, 900 
 
 1,380 
 1,720 
 
 11.9 
 51.1 
 
 30.8 
 30.9 
 
 ^3 
 
 in 
 
 3,550 
 7,300 
 
 88 
 12 
 
 52 
 ^3 
 
 8,900 
 16,200 
 
 1,520 
 1,950 
 
 13.2 
 Ij.k 
 
 26.3 
 27.^ 
 
 36 
 ^5 
 
 3,860 
 7,870 
 
 12 
 
 ko 
 
 13,500 
 
 1,680 
 
 ^ 
 
 Report No. 1973 
 
 (Sheet 1 of 2) 
 
Table 1.- -Mechanical properties of odoko (Scottellia coriacea ) and the 
 comparable hardwoods, European beech ( Fagus sylvatica ) and 
 American beech ( Fagus grand if olia )i: (Continued) 
 
 Property 
 
 Species and origin 
 
 Odoko 
 (Scottellia 
 
 coriacea ) 
 Nigeria 
 
 American 
 Beech 
 ( Fagus 
 grand i - 
 folia ) 
 United 
 States 
 
 European 
 
 Beech 
 
 ( Fagus 
 
 sylvatica ] 
 
 United 
 
 Kingdom 
 
 European 
 Beech 
 ( Fagus 
 sylvatica ) 
 
 •ope 
 
 Hardness- 
 Green - 
 Green - 
 Air-dry - end . 
 Air-dry - side 
 
 end lb , 
 
 side lb, 
 
 lb , 
 
 lb 
 
 Shear parallel to grain; maximum 
 shearing strength 
 
 Green p.s.i 
 
 Air-dry p.s.i 
 
 Cleavage; load to cause splitting 
 
 Green lb. per in. of width 
 
 Air-dry lb. per in. of width 
 
 1,150 
 
 990 
 
 1,620 
 
 1,090 
 
 1,280 
 5 1,910 
 
 ,H5 
 Aoo 
 
 970 
 
 850 
 
 1,590 
 
 1,300 
 
 1,290 
 2,010 
 
 1*90 
 
 1,080 
 
 960 
 
 1,820 
 
 1,1*1*0 
 
 1.210 
 2,030 
 
 1*90 
 525 
 
 1,690 
 1,180 
 
 1*30 
 
 ■=This table shows results of tests on odoko and European beech made by the 
 British Forest Products Eesearch Laboratory (l) . The results of tests on 
 American beech were taken from Tech. Bull. No. 1*79 of the U. S. Dept . of 
 Agr. (j). 
 
 2 
 
 -The load in pounds required to embed a 0.1*l*l*-inch steel ball to half its 
 
 diameter. 
 3 
 —Limited number of tests. 
 
 Report No. 1973 
 
 (Sheet 2 of 2) 
 
UNIVERi IT Y OF FLORIDA 
 
 I 1 
 
 3 1262 08866 4841 
 
 
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