Kigelia
| Kigelia | |
|---|---|
| |
| K. africana habitat, fruit, flower and seeds | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Bignoniaceae |
| Clade: | Crescentiina |
| Clade: | Paleotropical clade |
| Genus: | Kigelia DC. |
| Species: | K. africana
|
| Binomial name | |
| Kigelia africana | |
Kigelia is a genus of flowering plants in the trumpet vine family Bignoniaceae. The genus consists of only one species, Kigelia africana or Kigelia pinnata, which occurs throughout tropical Africa and parts of India.[1]
The so-called sausage tree grows a poisonous fruit that is up to 2 feet (61 cm) long, weighs about 15 pounds (6.8 kg), and resembles a sausage in a casing. The fruit and bark of the plant are used by African tribes as traditional medicine. The fruit is also made into an alcoholic drink by tribes in Kenya.
Etymology
[edit]The genus name comes from the Mozambican Bantu name, kigeli-keia[2], while the common names sausage tree and cucumber tree[3] refer to the long, sausage-like fruit.[2] Its name in Afrikaans, worsboom, also means sausage tree, while its Arabic name means "the father of kit-bags".[4]
Description
[edit]The tree can be deciduous or evergreen depending on rainfall.[1] It has a rounded crown, a thick trunk, and spreading, low-branching limbs; its bark is dark grey to light brown and scaly, with the inner bark being creamy-white, and the branches are marked with lenticels.[2] It can grow up to 24 metres (79 ft) tall and matures in about four to six years.[2]
The bark is grey and smooth at first, peeling on older trees. It can be as thick as 6 mm (0.24 in) on a 15 cm (5.9 in) diameter branch.[4] The wood is pale brown or yellowish, undifferentiated, and not prone to cracking.[4]
The tree mostly grows in the wild, especially in wetter places such as rainforest, woodland, wetter savanna, and shrubland. on loamy, red clay soil, which may be rocky.[2][1] It can grow from sea level to 3,000 meters high in altitude.[2]
Foliage
[edit]The leaves are arranged alternately along the stem and are divided into several pairs of leaflets, usually with a single leaflet at the tip.[2] Each leaf can be up to 50 cm (20 in) long and typically has three to six pairs of opposite leaflets.[2] The leaflets are shaped from oval to narrow and pointed, measuring 7–20 cm (2.8–7.9 in) long and 4–12 cm (1.6–4.7 in) wide.[2] Their edges are mostly smooth, sometimes slightly toothed, and their bases are slightly uneven, ranging from rounded to wedge-shaped.[2] The upper surface of the leaflets is shiny green and often rough, while the underside is dull green and can be either smooth or softly hairy.[2] The central vein is sunken on the upper side, with seven to twelve pairs of prominent side veins visible underneath.[2] The leaves do not have stipules, and the terminal leaflet can be either present or absent.[5]
Flowers
[edit]The flowers hang down from branches on long flexible stems (2–6 m or 7–20 ft long), which can be up to 7.5 m (25 ft) in length.[6] Flowers are produced in panicles; they are bell-shaped and fleshy[2] (similar to those of the African tulip tree but broader, darker, and more waxy), orange to maroon or purplish green, and about 10 cm (4 inches) (occasionally as much as 12 centimetres (4.7 in)[7]) wide. The flowers are hermaphrodite, display symmetry across only one plane (zygomorphic), and have petals arranged in groups of five.[2] The flowers have four fertile stamens: one smaller sterile stamen, a conical ovary, and emit a strong unpleasant scent at night, attracting bats for pollination.[2]
Fruit
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The fruit is a tough, very fibrous, indehiscent, greyish-brown[2], somewhat woody berry from 30 to 99 cm (12 to 39 inches) long[8] and up to 18 cm (7 inches) in diameter, but 20 cm (8 inches) has been reported.[9] Typically the fruit weighs between 5 and 10 kg (11 and 22 pounds)[2] but occasionally up to 12 kg (26 pounds),[10] and hangs down on the long, rope-like peduncles. The fruit pulp is fibrous, containing many seeds, which are unwinged, 1.25 cm long, and obovate.[2] The fruit pulp is poisonous to humans and strongly purgative, causing blistering of the tongue and skin, though the seeds may be roasted and eaten safely.[2]
Uses
[edit]Traditionally, the tree has been used by local African tribes in the belief that the plant is useful as a therapy for various disorders.[11][2] The tree contains the following groups of phytochemicals: phenols, coumarins, sterols, triterpenes, diterpenes, unsaturated fatty acids, quinones, iridoids, alkanes, and esters.[2]
In Botswana, the timber is used for makoros, yokes and oars.[4] More generally, it is an also used for fuel and the construction of canoes, planking, fence posts, as well as crafting various household items such as containers, musical instruments, furniture, and tool handles.[2] Branches are also utilized for making bows.[2] Both the wood and fruits are carved into objects like traps, toys, and dining utensils, while the wood also provides fuel.[2] The tannin-rich fruit pulp yields a black dye for coloring and dying purposes.[2] Early use of the wood for wedge-shaped tools was discovered at Kalambo Falls, Zambia, dating to between 390,000 and 324,000 years ago.[12]
Around Mount Kenya, especially among the Kikuyu, Embu and the Akamba, the dried fruits are used to make an alcoholic mead beverage (muratina in Kikuyu).[13] The fruit is harvested, split into two along the grain, and soaked to make the fruit less bitter, before being dried in the sun.[13] Cane sugar is then added to the fruit pieces.[13] The fruit are fermented for anywhere between two and four days in a warm environment, with the final ethanol content being between 3 and 6%.[13]
The tree is widely grown as an ornamental tree in tropical regions for its decorative flowers and unusual fruit.[14][2]
Kigelia africana also holds significant cultural and spiritual importance for many African communities.[2] The tree is believed to be sacred, and the fruits are widely traded in local markets as talismans believed to bring good luck in many different situations.[2]
Gallery
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Developing flower -
A sausage tree in Botswana in use as an airport departure lounge -
Kigelia africana: campus of U. West Indies, Trinidad, Feb. 2015 -
Entryway at the Lincoln Park Conservatory in Chicago, IL -
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References
[edit]- ^ a b c Singh A, Kumari S, Singh A, et al. (2018). "Ethnopharmacology and pharmacology of Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth" (PDF). International Journal of Green Pharmacy. 11: S23 – S31.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Nabatanzi A, M Nkadimeng S, Lall N, et al. (15 June 2020). "Ethnobotany, Phytochemistry and Pharmacological Activity of Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth. (Bignoniaceae)". Plants (Basel, Switzerland). 9 (6): 753. Bibcode:2020Plnts...9..753N. doi:10.3390/plants9060753. ISSN 2223-7747. PMC 7356732. PMID 32549404.
- ^ Sangita Saini, Harmeet Kaur, Bharat Verma, et al. (2009). "Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth. — an overview" (PDF). Natural Product Radiance. 8 (2): 190–197.
- ^ a b c d Roodt V (1992). Kigelia africana in The Shell field guide to the common trees of the Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve. Gaborone, Botswana: Shell Oil Botswana.
- ^ Diniz, MA, 1988. Bignoniaceae. In: Flora Zambesiaca, Vol. 8, Part 3, [ed. by Launert, E]. London, United Kingdom: Flora Zambesiaca Managing Committee. 61-85.
- ^ Williams W. Florida's Fabulous Trees. Tampa: Worldwide Publications. p. 24.
- ^ Kuck LE, Tongg RC (1960). Hawaiian Flowers and Flowering Trees - A Guide to Tropical and Semitropical Flora. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Co. p. 41.
- ^ Huxley A. The New Royal Hort. Soc. Dictionary of Gardening. Vol. 2. New York: Stockton Press. p. 735.
- ^ Lindley Ja (1866). A Treasury of Botany. Vol. 2. London: Longmans, Green & Co. p. 647.
- ^ Vandaveer C (7 March 2002). "Killer Plants". Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2004.
- ^ Houghton PJ, Jâger AK (1 February 2002). "The sausage tree (Kigelia pinnata): ethnobotany and recent scientific work". South African Journal of Botany. 68 (1): 14–20. Bibcode:2002SAJB...68...14H. doi:10.1016/S0254-6299(16)30448-3. ISSN 0254-6299.
- ^ Barham L, Duller Ga, Candy I, et al. (20 September 2023). "Evidence for the earliest structural use of wood at least 476,000 years ago". Nature. 622 (7981): 107–111. Bibcode:2023Natur.622..107B. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06557-9. hdl:10400.1/20204. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 10550827. PMID 37730994. S2CID 262084949.
At Kalambo we also recovered four wood tools from 390 ka to 324 ka, including a wedge, digging stick, cut log and notched branch....Object 660 (Kigelia africana), 36.2 cm long, rounded on one side with outer bark on both surfaces, tapers to an offset point cut 60° across the long axis...object 660 ('wedge')...
- ^ a b c d Akimoto T, Gichuru SG, Akimoto T, et al. (1986). "Higashiafurika no dentō-teki hakkō inryō kara bunri shita nyūsankin no dōtei to sho seijō" 東アフリカの伝統的発酵飲料から分離した乳酸菌の同定と諸性状 [Identification and Properties of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Traditional Fermented Beverages in East Africa]. Nihon Chikusan Gakkaiho (in Japanese). 57 (3): 265–276. doi:10.2508/chikusan.57.265.
- ^ Areces-Berazain F (11 June 2020). "Kigelia africana (sausage tree)". CABI Compendium. CABI Compendium: 29403. doi:10.1079/cabicompendium.29403.
External links
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