Common Name:

General Information

Parinari excelsa is a fast-growing, evergreen tree with a thick rounded or flatly-spreading crown. It usually grows up to 45 metres tall, but sometimes, when growing in harsh conditions is only about 8 metres tall[]. The bole is 40 - 50cm in diameter, and can be with or without basal buttresses which can be up to 3 metres tall.
A multipurpose tree, providing food, medicines and a range of other commodities. It is usually gathered from the wild for local use.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, north to the Guyanas and Costa Rica. Tropical Africa - Senegal to Kenya, south to Angola to Mozambique.

Habitat

Upland rainforests in the Guyanas[]. Rain-forest, but not found the wetter parts (non-flooded); coastal forest, swamp forest and in swampy depressions in rice fields[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	35.00 m
Growth Rate	Fast
Pollinators	Bees
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant mainly of moist, tropical lowlands where it can be found at elevations up to 1,000 metres[].
Grows well in sandy soils[].
Plants are not resistant to fire[].
In areas of managed forestry, it appears difficult to control and it tends to suppress desirable tree species present with it[].
Variable in shape, size and texture of leaves, in type of indumentum (cf. Above), in form of inflorescence, and in size of flowers[].

Edible Uses

Fruit[, ]. The pulp is yellowish when fresh, soft, edible with a flavour not unlike that of avocado pear (Persea americana)[]. It has been reported to contain 38% sugars[]. Palatability and/or acceptability varies, with the fruit highly esteemed in some areas but not much appreciated in others[]. There are occasions when it has served as an useful emergency food[]. In some areas the pulp is fermented to an alcoholic drink known as dhiaou and kounangui; the fermented pulp is extracted by water and the sweet liquid is filtered off, concentrated by boiling and then fermented[]. The brown fruit is an ellipsoid drupe with a warty surface, about 50 × 32mm[].

Seed[, ]. Rich in oil[]. It is usually eaten after roasting and then mixed with other foods[]. A fat can be extracted from it, but quickly turns rancid[].

Medicinal

A decoction of the bark is used in the treatment of anaemia and is used as a tonic by pregnant women[]. Either alone, or combined with other medicinal plants, it is taken in decoction as a treatment against diarrhoea, stomach ache and other stomach-disorders[]. Combined with earth from the fungus-nursery in a termite nest, it is taken as a treatment for hookworm, and is also used in a treatment of insanity[].
Used externally, it is pounded, macerated and chewed then applied as a cicatrizant to fresh wounds, especially in circumcision[].
Analysis of material from the Congo showed a trace of flavones in the stem-bark, and an abundance in the roots, plus plenty of tannin in both, but no other active principal[].

A root-macerate is taken internally as a treatment for migraine and stomach-pains, and for female sterility[].
Externally, it is used as a haemostatic and cicatrizant[]. Root-decoctions are prepared for washes, baths, massages and fumigations in tiredness, fevers and chest-pains and rheumatism[].

Steam from a boiling decoction of leafy twigs is considered to soothe gingivitis, stomatitis and toothache[].

An infusion of the fruit is taken as a drink in the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The tree is used for shade in coffee and cinchona plantations[, , ].

Other Uses

Both the wood-ash and the bark-ash contain tannin[].

The endocarp is filled with a loose cottony wool surrounding the kernel. This is used as a fire-tinder[].

The seed shell and pulp of the fruit yield a dye[].

A drying oil can be obtained from the seed[].

The sapwood is creamy-white and not clearly demarcated from the brown heartwood[]. The wood is hard, heavy, very strong and tough. It sinks when fresh. It is a timber of secondary importance and logging is now not commonly carried out, though it has been traded as sugué from Ivory Coast for shipment to Europe as a substitute for oak. The timber is difficult to work. It is so full of silica that saws blunt rapidly. It is best sawn whilst still green and with special saws. Yet it finds use locally and has potential. It is cut into planks and timbers and made into furniture. If exposed to weathering it is not durable and may be attacked by borers, though if protected it is good for house-timbers. If pressure-treated with preservative, it is excellent for railway sleepers. It is used for cabinet making, joinery, construction, furniture, tool handles and domestic utensils[, , ].
The wood is also used for firewood and yields a good charcoal[, , ].

Propagation

Seed -

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