title: Malacantha
text: # Malacantha
  
  Malacantha alnifolia is species of flowering plant in the family Sapotaceae. It is a tree native to tropical Africa. It is the sole species in genus Malacantha.
  
  Malacantha alnifolia is a shrub to a medium-sized tree which can grow up to 25 meters tall. It has a fluted trunk and slightly buttressed base.
  
  ## Range and habitat
  
  Its range extends across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia, and in coastal east Africa from Kenya south to Mozambique.
  
  It is generally an understory tree in lowland rain forest, groundwater forest, and riverine forest from sea level to 600 meters elevation. It grows in deciduous forest in the Coastal forests of eastern Africa, and in mixed deciduous forest in West Africa. It also colonizes woodland areas in West Africa. It is not found in the closed-canopy rain forests of West Africa and the Congo Basin.
  
  