Sausage Tree, African (Kigelia africana), potted tree, organic

Family: Bignonia (Bignoniaceae)

Hardy to Zones 9 to 12, otherwise grown as a naturally bonsai’d potted plant and protected from frost.

(African Sausage Tree, Umfongothi, Kigelia africana syn. Kigelia pinnata)  Tropical tree to 60 feet tall, native to South and East Africa.  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. Traditional usage (African herbalism): dressing for skin infections, rheumatism. Source of naphthoquinone molecule Lapachol. The seeds, which are found embedded in the fibrous pulp of the fruit, are used in Africa as a famine food. This is a tropical plant, slow-growing, handsome of trunk, very comely and easy to care for, indoors or greenhouse. Makes a charming, glossy-leaved container plant.

potted tree, organic