Titre : Cultural uses of Morinda lucida Benth. in Africa Auteurs : Mathilde Buratti , Marie-Claude Ledoux, Revue : Archaeology, Society and Environment Numéro : Issue 1 Volume : 3 Date : 2023/11/30 DOI : 10.21494/ISTE.OP.2023.1044 ISSN : 2752-4507 Résumé : The Morinda lucida Benth. is an African wood, distributed over two thirds of the continent. This species is not threatened by genetic erosion but it is listed as essential for indigenous societies because it accompanies humans in their daily lives and in their funeral rites. All parts of the wood are used: trunk, bark, branches and roots. Depending on the climatic characteristics, its appearance varies from a twisted shrub to a medium tree with a regular bole of more than twenty meters in height and sixty centimeters in diameter. Morinda lucida has many qualities that make it a good timber species: fine grain, good resistance to pressure, insects, and mould. Pirogues, pits, furniture, or statuary therefore can be made with this species. But its main uses are dyeing and medicine. The variability of know-how, the diversity of vernacular names and its proverbs are indications of a species with strong symbolic and identity connotations. Éditeur : ISTE OpenScience