Sausage tree (Kigelia)

Description:

Its fairly easy to see how this tree got its name due to the long pendular fruit it bears, the name comes from Mozambican Bantu, kigeli-keia, while the common name Sausage Tree refers to the long, sausage-like fruit. Its name in Afrikaans Worsboom also means Sausage Tree. This is the only tree in its species and its fruit is eaten by many animals including Baboons, Elephants, Giraffes and bush pigs. In African herbal medicine, the fruit is believed to be a cure for a wide range of ailments, from rheumatism, snakebites, evil spirits, syphilis, and even tornadoes. An alcoholic beverage similar to beer is also made from it. The fresh fruit is poisonous and strongly purgative if consumed by humans so it is prepared by fermentation or drying and roasting. Its seeds are often eaten by brown parrots which obviously then spread them around but it is the bat that it relies on for pollination of its flowers.

Habitat:

seen in Amboseli national park