Sapindaceae FAMILY

Blighia welwitschii

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

The bark, young leaves, fruits and seeds are used as fish poison[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The arils of unripe seeds may be toxic, as well as the seeds[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].

Botanical Description

Blighia welwitschii is an evergreen tree with a usually dense crown; usually growing up to 40 metres tall, occasionally to 50 metres. The cylindrical bole is usually straight, it can be free of branches for up to 30 metres, up to 100cm in diameter, slightly fluted at base or sometimes with small, thick buttresses[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of wood.

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical

Native RangeTropical Africa - Sierra Leone to DR Congo and Uganda, south to Angola.

HabitatFound mostly in moist evergreen forest, in primary as well as secondary formations, but it can also be found in semi-deciduous forest. In Uganda it is found at elevations up to 1,150 metres[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].