Common Name: West African Locust Bean

General Information

Parkia filicoidea is a large, briefly deciduous tree with an open, widely spreading crown; it can grow up to 30 metres tall. The bole, which is often narrowly buttressed to a height of about 3 metres, can be 60 - 120cm in diameter[, ].
The plant is gathered from the wild for local use as food, medicine and to provide a range of commodities. The tree is sometimes cultivated, especially in Nigeria, as a food crop and is grown more widely as a shade tree in plantations and as an ornamental[, ].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Tropical Africa - Cote D'Ivoire to southern Sudan, Uganda and southern Somalia, south to Angola, Zambia, northern Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Habitat

Wet evergreen forest to semi-deciduous forest[]. Generally in fringing forest by rivers or lakes, but said sometimes to occur on termite mounds, at elevations of 130 - 900 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Semi-deciduous Tree
Height	30.00 m
Pollinators	Bats
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Parkia filicoidea trees are leafless for a brief period, often during the flowering period in the dry season. It has been reported that flowering trees can be found throughout the year in Kenya and Tanzania. 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 squirrels have also been recorded as feeding on the nectar. Fruits develop in 2 - 3 months[].
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria; these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[].

Edible Uses

The seeds are boiled then fermented into a strong-smelling, blackish, cheese-like paste used as a food and for seasoning certain vegetable stews[]. The odour is destroyed by frying or roasting[]. The seed has a high protein content (32%) and low fat content (10%). The seed oil contains 54% unsaturated fatty acids; the main fatty acids are oleic acid (43%), stearic acid (17%) and linoleic acid (11%)[]

The dry, soft pulp of the fruit is eaten as a snack or ground to a yellow meal[]. A yellow flour is produced from the fruit pulp, which is eaten jointly with rice, other cereals, or made into cakes[].

Young pods, cut into pieces, are occasionally cooked and eaten, especially in periods of food shortage[, ]. The pods are usually 25 - 45cm long, with some specimens up to 80cm, and are 1.5 - 3.5 cm wide[]. The pods turn black when old, with an orange, mealy pulp containing up to 21 seeds[].

Medicinal

The bark is used in traditional medicine. A bark decoction is taken as a galactagogue, and for treatment of malaria, rheumatism and toothache[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The tree has an open, widely-spreading crown, and also fixes atmospheric nitrogen, this makes it useful as a shade tree in plantations[].

Other Uses

The bark contains 12 - 14% tannin[].

A red dye is obtained from the bark[].

The tough, inner lining of the seedpods is used for cordage[].

The white wood is soft, moderately easy to work with hand and machine tools, and a reduced cutting angle is necessary to avoid picking-up during planing. The nailing and gluing properties are satisfactory. The wood is not durable and is liable to termite, pinhole borer and marine borer attacks, but it is comparatively easy to treat with preservatives[]. The heartwood is straw-coloured with a pink or green sheen, turning reddish brown on exposure, and often indistinctly demarcated from the sapwood. The grain is interlocked, texture coarse. Growth rings distinct. The fresh wood has an unpleasant odour[]. The wood is used for poles, mortars, water containers, stools and beehives. It is suitable for light construction, interior trim, furniture, cabinet work, vehicle bodies, sporting goods, toys, novelties, handles, boxes, crates, matches, plywood, hardboard and particle board[, ].
The wood is used as firewood and for charcoal production[, ].

Propagation

Parkia filicoidea can be propagated by seed. The seeds have no period of dormancy and deteriorate rapidly, so they should be sown quickly. Removal of the seedcoat, boiling for a short time or soaking in water overnight improve germination. Fresh seeds extracted from the fruit already started to germinate without any contact with external water. In Kenya seeds found in fresh elephant and baboon faeces germinated soon after collection. In tests in Malawi, however, seeds failed to germinate regardless of the pre-treatment[]

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