Butter tree, Tallow Tree, Candle Tree, Black Mango
Pentadesma butyracea

Family: Clusiaceae

What it is like

An evergreen tree 25 m tall. The bark is brown and cracked into angular patches. The branches are in rings. The leaves are 10-25 cm long by 3.5-7.5 cm wide. The base is rounded and it tapers to the tip. The flowers are white or greenish-white. They can be 7.5 cm across. Flowers can be single or in groups near the ends of branches. The fruit is oval. It can be 15 cm long by 8.5 cm wide. They contain a few angular seeds in a yellow pulp. There are 3-8 seeds. They are oily.

There are 5 Pentadesma species. They grow in Africa. They all yield edible oil.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows in forests often in swampy situations. It grows on river banks and swampy ground. It does best in deep soils and needs a rainfall above 1,000 mm per year.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Asia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, China, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Togo, West Africa (country/location of origin)

How it is used for food

The seeds are the source of an edible fat. The seeds are eaten when young. The pulp of ripe fruit is edible. (Unripe fruit are bitter)

It is a commonly used food in West Africa.

Edible parts

Seeds, seeds - oil, fruit

How it is grown

Plants are grown from seed. Fresh seed must be used. Trees can also be grown from root suckers.

Trees first flower when about 8 m tall. Fruit are harvested then put together under a tree to ferment and allow the seed to be more easily removed. A mature tree can produce 500 fruit. The fruit weighs about 600 g and the seed 120 g. To produce oil the seeds are crushed and boiled and the oil skimmed off.

Its other names

Local names

Aghe, Agnuhe, Avoum, Boncom-hadje, Boncom-o, Ekuso, Gambe, Izeni, Ka-yoth, Kiasose, Kodjonou, Lami, Mbeke-wa, N'jolei, N'kandika, Nom Onie, Orogbo erin, Orongbo-erin, Owala oil tree, Soe-kone, Sokai, Uroro

Synonyms

Pentadesma grandifolia Baker f.; Pentadesma kerstingii Engl. ex Volkens; Pentadesma leucantha A. Chev.; Pentadesma nigritana Baker f.;