Sausage Tree

(Umfongothi) - Zulu

Kigelia africana
Family: Bignoniaceae
Tropical tree, native to South and East Africa. When living in East Africa, we
consumed (with slight trepidation) a beverage called "uki" made from Sausage Tree
fruit and local honey. It was actually quite good, slightly effervescent, and with the
usual smoky flavor of many African foods and beverages. The tree has a thick trunk
with grey bark, and a beautifully rounded profile. It bears deep red flowers which
give way to enormous, pendulous fruits attaining a length of up to 3 feet. In the
earlier stages of their growth, the shape is decidedly phallic, but they eventually come
to resemble sausages hanging from the rafters of a Bavarian butchery. The powdered,
dried fruit or bark is made into a poultice or decoction and used as an antimicrobial
dressing for skin infections and as an anti-inflammatory for treating rheumatism. The
tree also contains Lapachol, the same anticancer naphoquinone that is found in Pau
D'arco. The seeds, which are found embedded im the fibrous pulp of the fruit, are
used in Africa as a famine food. Cultivation: Extra care. Scarify. Sow 1/2 inch
deep in gallon pots. Heat dependent germinator. Sow in pots. Water sparingly.
Tropical plant, indoors or greenhouse. Makes a charming, glossy-leaved potted plant,
and in its native habitat attains a height of 60 feet.

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