Pithecellobiun dule is a good example why botanical names are much more precise than common names. The English name, Madras thorn is copied in Swahili by mkwaju wa kihindi [Tamarind of India] but the tree actually comes from tropical America!
It tolerates drier and less fertile areas because it fixes nitrogen which helps it survive the rigors of climate. However it also grows well in places like Dar es salaam, where I collected most of our seed.
Description: A thin, shrub with no apical dominance, but also grows to a large, muli-branched tree to 15 metres. It carries sharp, thin spines at the base if each leaflet and sometimes on branches. Bark is pale grey/brown, smooth with horizontal marks. Leaves are on thin stalks with two pairs of leaflets, each >5cm, rounded with the tip notched. Flowers are small and cream - yellow with green/white stamens. In bunches and on short stalks. Fruit are heavy, twisted pods <12cm, constricted between seeds. Red when Mature and splitting to release glossy black seeds surrounded by a red and white fleshy edible aril.
Uses: Firewood, timber and poles - soft and easy to work and durable, food and drink from the fleshy aril, fodder - pods and leaves, bee forage, soil conservation, shade, live fence [trimmed], gum from the bark and oil from the seeds.
Propagation: There are >20 000 seeds per kg and can be stored for up to a year. Seeds can be direct sown after soaking in water for 6 hours, resulting in 95% germination after 2 weeks.
I have not seed the fruit used as a food except for young kids in Dar es Salaam. Rural people do not seem to trust the fruit whereas in India it is well known.
I suspect the species could become a weed because of its ability to colonize less productive areas - I am not sure about my attitude to this.
Spines in the nursery make it a little uncomfortable to work with sometimes.
If pods are not collected by people livestock and monkeys soon clean them up.
It tolerates drier and less fertile areas because it fixes nitrogen which helps it survive the rigors of climate. However it also grows well in places like Dar es salaam, where I collected most of our seed.
Description: A thin, shrub with no apical dominance, but also grows to a large, muli-branched tree to 15 metres. It carries sharp, thin spines at the base if each leaflet and sometimes on branches. Bark is pale grey/brown, smooth with horizontal marks. Leaves are on thin stalks with two pairs of leaflets, each >5cm, rounded with the tip notched. Flowers are small and cream - yellow with green/white stamens. In bunches and on short stalks. Fruit are heavy, twisted pods <12cm, constricted between seeds. Red when Mature and splitting to release glossy black seeds surrounded by a red and white fleshy edible aril.
Uses: Firewood, timber and poles - soft and easy to work and durable, food and drink from the fleshy aril, fodder - pods and leaves, bee forage, soil conservation, shade, live fence [trimmed], gum from the bark and oil from the seeds.
Propagation: There are >20 000 seeds per kg and can be stored for up to a year. Seeds can be direct sown after soaking in water for 6 hours, resulting in 95% germination after 2 weeks.
I have not seed the fruit used as a food except for young kids in Dar es Salaam. Rural people do not seem to trust the fruit whereas in India it is well known.
I suspect the species could become a weed because of its ability to colonize less productive areas - I am not sure about my attitude to this.
Spines in the nursery make it a little uncomfortable to work with sometimes.
If pods are not collected by people livestock and monkeys soon clean them up.
No comments:
Post a Comment