Common Name: African Locust Bean

General Information

Parkia bicolor is a briefly deciduous tree with an open, widely spreading crown; it can grow up to 40 metres tall. The cylindrical bole is usually straight but is sometimes twisted or curved. It can be up to 100cm, occasionally 150cm, in diameter, with thin and fairly spreading buttresses up to 3 metres tall[].
The tree is mainly harvested from the wild - its wood is exploited commercially whilst it also provides food and medicines for the local population. It is sometimes cultivated for its edible pods and seeds[]. It is usually left when areas of forest are felled for agriculture due to the edible fruits and seeds it produces[].
There are no major threats to this taxon, however, there are general threats to the habitats within the species range. These include logging, urbanization and agriculture. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

West tropical Africa - Sierra Leone to DR Congo, south to Angola.

Habitat

Found in a range of forest types, from wet evergreen to dry semi-deciduous. It is most common in mixed, moist, lowland, semi-evergreen rainforest, especially in well-drained places, but it can also be found along creeks and rivers and in swamps[].

Properties

Conservation Status	Least Concern
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Semi-deciduous Tree
Height	35.00 m
Pollinators	Bats
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the moist tropics where it is found at elevations up to 1,200 metres[]. It occurs in regions with a mean annual rainfall of 2,000 - 4,000mm, and with a dry season of up to 3 months[].
Requires a sunny position[].
Seedlings can become 1 metre tall in their first year of growth[].
In Cote d'Ivoire, the mean annual growth in diameter is about 7mm for trees with a diameter at breast height of 10 - 70cm in natural forest stands, and 17mm per year in 14-year-old plantations[].
Individual trees flower for 6 - 8 weeks. At night, the sterile flowers near the base of the inflorescence produce abundant nectar, which attracts bats. The flowers are probably most commonly pollinated by these bats, but dormice and pottos have also been recorded as feeding on the nectar[].
Fruits develop in about 2 months[].
Regeneration is fairly common in secondary forest[].
Although many species within the family Fabaceae have a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria, this species is said to be devoid of such a relationship and therefore does not fix atmospheric nitrogen[].

Edible Uses

The fruit pulp is occasionally eaten[].

The fermented seeds serve as a condiment for seasoning sauces and soups, in the same way as those of Parkia biglobosa, although much less commonly so[].

The seed oil has been analyzed and was found to be non-toxic. It resembles the seed oil from Parkia biglobosa. Arachidic acid is the most abundant fatty acid (slightly over 40%), other acids are behenic, stearic, palmitic, linoleic acids and the uncommon bicolargic acid[].

Medicinal

Several parts of the tree are used in traditional medicine[].
Preliminary phytochemical screening of the leaves have shown the presence of cardiac glycosides, tannins, alkaloids and steroids[].
The roots contain gallic acid, lichexanthone and lupeol[]. A root extract has shown antibacterial activity[].

A bark maceration is applied to treat eye complaints[]. A decoction of the bark is used to treat toothache[]. The dried and powdered bark is applied externally to enhance the healing of wounds and sores[]. A vapour bath of the bark is used to treat rheumatism[].

The leaf pulp is rubbed on smallpox and chicken pox[].

The roots are used to treat measles, infertility in women and sexually transmitted diseases[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The tree with its open, widely spreading crown is used as a shade tree for crops, and it is sometimes retained when cutting the forest for agricultural land[].

Other Uses

The heartwood is pale yellow, sometimes with darker irregular streaks; it is indistinctly demarcated from the wide sapwood. The grain is variable, from straight to interlocked; texture coarse but even; fresh wood has an unpleasant odour[]. The wood is moderately light, soft and moderately tough; it is not durable and is liable to termite, pinhole borer and marine borer attacks[]. It saws moderately well and works satisfactorily with both hand and machine tool; it can be planed to a smooth and lustrous surface, but the wood is difficult to polish and varnish; the nailing and gluing properties are satisfactory[]. The wood yields about 57% sulphate pulp and is considered suitable for the paper industry[]. The wood is used for planks, carpentry and canoes. It is also suitable for light construction, interior trim, joinery, furniture, cabinet work, shipbuilding, toys, novelties, implements, turnery, boxes, crates, matches, veneer, plywood, hardboard, particle board and pulpwood[].

Propagation

Seed - it loses its viability rapidly and should be sown fresh. Removal of the seed coat improves germination. Germination occurs 4 - 10 days after sowing. The seedlings are sensitive to damping off[].

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