Bignoniaceae - Jacaranda family
SA Tree no 678
It is common in frost-free areas and prefers to be near rivers, but also grows in high rainfall areas. While on or two trees may be found in the same vicinity, the tree usually grows in isolation.
It is a large riverine tree, growing to a height of 6 - 20 m, and has very dense foliage, and has a huge, low-branching trunk. The leaves are compound, large, leathery, and rigid. The fruit is sausage-like, and is visible for most of the year. Not all trees carry fruit. The red flowers, that appear between July and October, make this tree easy to identify. The bark is grey, smooth and peels in irregular blocks.
Links with animals - Ripe fruit is eaten by baboon, monkey, porcupine and bushpig, The leaves are sometimes eaten by elephant and kudu. Nyala, impala and kudu eat the flowers that have fallen to the ground. The nectar is drunk by baboon, monkey, sunbirds and insects. The larvae of the Charaxes butterflies feed on the trees.
Human uses - The fruit is poisonous and inedible when green, but is used to brew beer when ripe. The seeds are fried and eaten. The wood is used for making canoes.
Gardening - This is an attractive ornamental shade tree, suitable for larger gardens. It is very susceptible to frost, and is not drought-resistant. The tree can be grown from seed, and is fast-growing.
Leaves - Compound, with 3 -5 pairs of leaflets, plus a single leaf at the tip. They are opposite and elliptic, with a rounded tip and a smooth, wavy, entire margin. Most terminal leaves have serrated ends. The leaves are characteristically thick, roughly hairy on both surfaces, yellowish-green above, paler green below, leathery and rigid. Apex broadly tapering to rounded; base square, asymmetric in the lateral leaflets, symmetric in the terminal leaflet; the lower leaflets shortly petiolulate, the terminal pair without petiolules. (Leaf: 250 mm; leaflets: 70 - 150 mm)
Flowers -Big, red to dark maroon flowers with heavy yellow veining on the outside, up to 150 mm across the mouth, unpleasant scent; growing in groups of 3, up to 12, appear before the leaves in early spring, from July to October. Flowers are bisexual; calyx shortly tubular with 2 - 5 ribbed lobes; corolla widely cup-shaped with 5 broadly spreading lobes; stamens 4, slightly protruding beyond the mouth of the corolla tube; ovary 1-chambered; flowers drop from the tree to form a red carpet on the ground. (140 x 140 mm)
Fruit - unique, huge, solid sausage-like fruit, giving the tree its common english name. Greyish-brown in colour, heavily lenticel-dotted, indehiscent, heavy, weighing up to 10 kg, containing a fibrous pulp in which many seed are embedded. Ripe fruits fall from May through to April the following year. (500 x 100 mm) (1 m x 180 mm???)
The Sausage Tree (Kigelia africana) is a medium to large, semi-deciduous to deciduous Southern African tree, up to 25m tall with a rounded crown. The leaves, 3-whorled, are grouped at the tips of branches. The individual leaves are opposite compound with 1 terminal leaflet. The leaflets are hard and the margins wavy. The bottom leaflets are the smallest with the top ones the biggest. The bark is normally smooth but it flakes on older trees.
The stunning, dark-red, trumpet shaped flowers occurs in long drooping sprays, up to 12 flowers per spray. The Sausage Tree flowers in early spring. Fruit bats are thought to pollinate the flowers. The fruits are huge, gray-brown and sausage shaped, hence the common name of the tree. They can be up to 1 meter long and 18cm in diameter and they weigh up to 12 kilograms! The colour of the wood is light brown and it is moderately heavy. The wood is used for dugout canoes in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Interesting Facts:
The flowers and fruit of the Sausage Tree is always an eye-catcher and conversation piece. The fruit is toxic but is used in traditional medicine to treat skin disorders, ulcers and sores. The bark and roots are also used in traditional medicine. Some modern skin ointments are prepared from fruit extracts. Research has shown that the fruit has got antibacterial properties.
The leaves are sometimes browsed by elephant and kudu. Kudu, impala and njala eat the fallen flowers. The fruit is sometimes eaten by baboons and bushpigs. In times of famine the seeds are roasted and eaten.
Cultivation:
Kigelia africana is easily propagated from seed. I`ve found the seed easy to germinate, even with seeds taken from old fruit. It seems as if the viability of the seeds decrease faster once they are removed from the fruit. Germinate the seeds in a well draining mix such as pure river sand or vercumilite/perlite mix. Cover the seed with a thin layer of the germination mix. If kept moist, the seeds should germinate within 2 to 4 weeks. They transplant easily and will grow quickly once planted in a large container. The growth rate under normal conditions (warm summers and frost free winters) is about 1 meter per year. The tree is frost sensitive but it will survive in colder areas if it is protected for the first 3 to 5 years.
The root system is invasive. The tree should not be planted where vehicles might park under them as falling fruit can cause considerable damage!
Alternative Names:
Worsboom (Afrikaans)
Modukguhlu (Northern Sotho)
umVunguta (Zulu)
Muvevha (Venda)
Best places to see the Sausage Tree in Southern Africa:
The Sausage Tree is found in the Kruger National Park in the Sabie Crocodile Thorn Thickets, Knob Thorn / Marula Savannah, Riverine Communities & Alluvial Plains ecozones.
 Tree species of Southern Africa >> Printable Tree List <<
South African Trees >> Printable Tree List <<
The Plant Kingdom (Plantae)
Wildlife - Fauna & Flora of Southern Africa
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