PROPRIÉTÉS PHYSIQUES ET MÉCANIQUES DU BOIS DE TECK DE PROVENANCES TANZANIENNE ET LOCALE AU BÉNIN

Teak ( Tectona grandis L. f. ) is a tropical timber species which is in great demand. In Benin, the two most commonly planted teak varieties are of Tanzanian and local provenances. To contribute to the cha- racterisation of teak from Benin, we determined and compared, for each pro- venance, the elasticity and shear modu- lus, height of the bole, the circumference and bark thickness at felling height, the percentage of heartwood, the circumfe- rence 1.30 m from the ground and the density of the wood at a 12 % moisture content. The samples were taken in the Lama plantations from trees of 20 to   25 years of age (6 logs of local prove- nance 4 of Tanzanian provenance). The results obtained with these samples indi- cate that for this age class, the values for these properties are higher for the local teak than for the Tanzanian teak, except for the percentage of heartwood. Based on our sample, therefore, the local teak wood is of a fair quality that should be enhanced through biological  selection or cloning of the specimens best able to adapt not only to climate change but also to soil structure. This would help to pro- mote teak production across the entire country and even the sub-region. Howe- ver, establishing a hybrid variety that combines the advantages of both prove- nancescouldalsobeamajorsteptowards improving all tree species used in Benin.