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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