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