Tropical Plant Database - Plant Details

The short, squat trunk of Sausage Tree has light brown, sometimes flaky bark and supports a dense rounded to spreading crown (18 m high, 20 m wide) of leathery, slightly glossy foliage (deciduous). From August to November the fragrant, bell-shaped, deep maroon or claret, green or yellow-veined flowers form on hanging, 6-12in flowered stalks. The huge, gray-brown fruits, 800 x 120 mm. hang from long stalks, from December (summer) to June (winter) and weigh anything up to 9 kg! The fruit pods are very fibrous with numerous hard seeds and tend to be inedible to humans as well as being poisonous when unripe.
(Coates-Palgrave, K. 1988. Trees of southern Africa.)
(Palmer, E. and Pitman, N. 1972. Trees of Southern Africa.)
(Pooley, E. 1993. The Complete Guide to Trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei.)
(Van Wyk, B. and Van Wyk, P. 1997. Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa)

The most common uses of the Sausage Tree: the Tonga apply powdered fruit as a dressing to ulcers. Unripe fruit is used in Central Africa as a dressing for wounds, haemorrhoids and rheumatism. Venereal diseases are commonly treated with the tree extracts usually in palm wine as oral medication. The fruits and bark, ground and boiled in water, are also taken orally or used as an enema in treating children's stomach ailments, usually worms. The Shona people tend to use the bark or root as powder or infusion for application to ulcers, drunk or applied in the treatment of pneumonia, as a gargle for toothache, and the leaves in a compound applied for backache. While infections are common, by comparison, skin cancer and psoriasis are far less prevalent among Africans.
(Van Wyk, B-E., Van Oudtshoorn, B. and Gericke, N. 1997. Medicinal Plants of South Africa.)
(Van Wyk, B-E. and Gericke, N. 2000. People's Plants, a Guide to Useful Plants of Southern Africa.)
(Venter, F. and Venter, J. 1996. Making the Most of Indigenous Trees.)
(Von Koenen, E. 1996. Medicinal, Poisonous and Edible Plants in Namibia.)
(Watt, J.M. and Breyer-Brandwijk, M.G. 1962. The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa.)

Fresh fruit cannot be eaten. It is said to be a strong purgative, and causes blisters in the mouth and on the skin. Green fruits are said to be poisonous.
(Venter, F. and Venter, J. 1996. Making the most of indigenous trees.)
(Coates-Palgrave, K. 1988. Trees of southern Africa.)
(Palmer, E. and Pitman, N. 1972. Trees of southern Africa.)
(Pooley, E. 1993. The complete guide to trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei.)
(Van Wyk, B. and Van Wyk, P. 1997. Field guide to the trees of southern Africa)

Not surprisingly, very little had been documented about the use of sausage trees. The wood of the trees is of little commercial value. Africans in the regions where the trees grow use various parts of the tree for medicinal and also pseudo-medicinal purposes such as hanging the fruit around dwellings as a protection from violent storms and hurricanes or as symbols of fertility. In Malawi, roasted fruits are used to flavour beer and aid fermentation. The tough wood is used for shelving and fruit boxes, and dugout canoes are made from the tree in Botswana and Zimbabwe. Roots are said to yield a bright yellow dye. Traditional remedies prepared from crushed, dried or fresh fruits are used to deal with ulcers, sores and syphilis - the fruit has antibacterial activity. Today, beauty products and skin ointments are prepared from fruit extracts.
(Venter, F. and Venter, J. 1996. Making the Most of Indigenous Trees.)
(Coates-Palgrave, K. 1988. Trees of Southern Africa.)
(Palmer, E. and Pitman, N. 1972. Trees of Southern Africa.)
(Pooley, E. 1993. The Complete Guide to Trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei.)
(Van Wyk, B. and Van Wyk, P. 1997. Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa)

(Information for this species compiled and recorded by Camelia Cirnaru, NTBG Consultant.)

The tree is found only in Africa on riverbanks, where it may reach 20 m, along streams and on floodplains, also in open woodland, from KwaZulu-Natal to Tanzania.
(Coates-Palgrave, K. 1988. Trees of Southern Africa.)
(Palmer, E. and Pitman, N. 1972. Trees of Southern Africa.)
(Pooley, E. 1993. The Complete Guide to trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei.)
(Van Wyk, B. and Van Wyk, P. 1997. Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa)

In time of scarcity, seeds are roasted and eaten.
(Venter, F. and Venter, J. 1996. Making the Most of Indigenous Trees.)
(Coates-Palgrave, K. 1988. Trees of Southern Africa.)
(Palmer, E. and Pitman, N. 1972. Trees of Southern Africa.)
(Pooley, E. 1993. The Complete Guide to Trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei.)
(Van Wyk, B. and Van Wyk, P. 1997. Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa)

The flowers open one at a time and are said to be pollinated by bats, although they are also visited by some birds and insects.
It is one of the first trees to flower in the Kruger Park in Africa in early spring (August to October)and than the tree is "alive" with insects and birds such as Black, Scarletchested and Whitebellied Sunbirds, Blackheaded Oriole, Sombre and Blackeyed Bulbuls, Masked Weaver, Brownheaded Parrot and Grey Lourie (which eats flowerbuds). Young monkeys sank their small faces deep into the flowers to get at the nectar, and duiker, kudu and impala were eating the fallen flowers. Elephant and kudu occasionally browse the leaves, and baboons, monkeys, bushpigs and porcupines eat the fruit. Epauletted fruit bats are thought to pollinate the flowers and Charaxes butterflies also visit the tree.
(Coates-Palgrave, K. 1988. Trees of Southern Africa.)
(Palmer, E. and Pitman, N. 1972. Trees of Southern Africa.)
(Pooley, E. 1993. The Complete Guide to Trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei.)
(Van Wyk, B. and Van Wyk, P. 1997. Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa)

Extracts of Kigelia africana are used as herbal relief for eczema and psoriasis. The researchers conducted in-vitro tests for the efficacy of an aqueous extract of stem bark and two major iridoids against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. Their conclusion was that: "the extract tested had pronounced inhibitory effect against all microorganisms". These tests gave validity to the traditional use as a natural antibacterial. Chemical analyses of the roots, wood and leaves of the tree have shown the presence of napthoquinones, dihydroisocoumarins, flavonoids and aldehydic iridoid derivatives. Later work on meroterpinoids and napthoquinones from Kigelia pinnata was an attempt to determine the identity of the antineoplastic constituents.
Also, there are documented reports of Kigelia being very successful in the treatment of Eczema which has not responded to even the strongest of steroid creams.
(Akunyili DN et al. 1991. Antimicrobial Activities of the Stembark of Kigelia Pinnata. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 35: 173-177.)
(Akunyuli DN and Houghton PJ. 1993. Meroterpinoids and Napthoquinones from Kigelia Pinnata. Phytochemistry. 32(4): 1015-1018.)

We currently have 2 herbarium specimens for Kigelia africana in our collection. Click on any specimen below to view the herbarium sheet data.

• 016445 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1995
• 016446 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1995