NAME: Dialium guineense
FAMILY NAME: Leguminosae
COMMON NAMES: Black tamarind, Tumble tree, Black velvet, Sierra Leone tamarind, Velvet tamarind
LOCAL NAMES: Awin, Icheku, Tsamiyar kurmi
MORPHOLOGY: Velvet tamarind is an evergreen shrub or a tall, tropical, fruit-bearing tree with a densely leafy, compact crown; it can grow up to 30 metres tall but is often smaller and shrubby. The often short bole can be up to 80cm in diameter and is free of buttresses but has narrow, thin, butt flares. It has small, typically grape-sized, edible fruits with brown, hard, inedible shells.
PART(S): Leaves, fruit, bark, twigs
GENERAL USES: Food and Medicinal
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome et Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo
WHY IS IT GREEN: Fever, coughs, bronchitis, toothache, astringent, diuretic
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The tree is used as natural fallow species for fertility restoration. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen
FURTHER READING:
ressler, S.; Schmidt, M. & Zizka, G. (2014). "Dialium guineense". African plants – a Photo Guide. Frankfurt/Main: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg.
https://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Dialium+guineense
https://web.archive.org/web/20131114014409/http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/Sea/Products/AFDbases/AF/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=673