Wildlife of Benin - Flora

Flora

Dense forests are not recorded in Benin. Along the coastal areas coconut, palmyra palms, oil palms are seen up to Abomey, where after vegetation is savanna merged with that of Guinea and Sudan. Other tree species noted are ebony, shea nut, kapok, fromager, and Senegal mahogany trees.

The W National Park constitutes the southern limit of tiger bush plateau distribution. Riverine and gallery forests are noted on the banks of the Mekrou River (with seasonal flows), and other tributaries of the Niger River. The plains have extensive coverage of grasses. In the savanna woodlands, grassland and stunted savanna woodlands, the plant species recorded are the Terminalia avicennioides, Anogeissus leiocarpus, hackberry Clematis integrifolia clematis, Boscia senegalensis, Balanites aegyptiaca, kapok tree (Bombax costatum), African locust (Parkia biglobosa), Camel’s Foot Tree, Senna reticulata, baobab (Adansonia digitata), tamarind (Tamarindus indica), Prosopis africana, (Piliostigma reticulatum). In the evergreen gallery forests, sausage tree, (Kigelia africana) and African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis) are found. Orchid species recorded are the Eulophia cucculata and Eulophia guineensis.

The Pendjari park consists of; grasslands which have no trees or shrubs; shrub lands which are fully covered by grass; Arborous savanna vegetation; wooded savanna formations with contiherbaceous layer but with no undergrowth; forests along the river, thin forests with plenty of trees of size of 8–16 m; and gallery forests which are dense with shrubs. The rocky cliffs of the Pendjari National Park are sparsely wooded. The Volta depression has savanna ecosystem with woodlands and rare species such as Burkea africana, Anogeissus leiocarpus, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Detarium microcarpum, Lannea acida, Sterculia setigera, Combretum ghasalense and Acacia spp. On the deep soils of some of the summits and the Atakora escarpment one finds a greater variety of plant species with Isoberlinia doka and Afzelia africana. The Pendjari River has an impressive gallery forest and river forest. The park includes both Sudan and North Guinea savannas, with areas of grassland dominated by Acacia sieberiana and Terminalia macroptera.

The most common species found in the "riparian forests" are: Pterocarpus santalinoides (Papilionaceae), Cola laurifolia (Sterculiaceae) and Syzygium guineense (Myrtaceae), out of which a few species are endemic and valuable.

Herbal cure

Malaria, which is a virulent disease in Benin as in the rest of Africa, is treated by alternative medicines. The alternative treatment locally practiced in southern Benin is based on several plant species that are extracted and administered orally. Such extracts are also used for bathing. Plant species listed for treatment are 85, which are used to make 35 mixtures for treatment.

Botanical garden

The phytodiversity of Western Africa is being preserved at the Papatia Botanical Garden in northern Benin. This garden, which is spread over an area of 12 ha, is a species-rich savanna area where an inventory of hundred woody plants and several hundred of herbaceous species has been maintained. A tree-nursery is part of this garden created to increase rare species.