Spirit's marbles
Albizia altissima

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

A tree. It can grow to 35 m tall. The trunk is often short and bent. It is 80 cm across. The bark is dull grey ad scaly. The crown is open. The leaves are alternate and compound. They are twice divided with 4 to 8 pairs of leaflets. The flowers are in a round head in the axils of leaves. The fruit is a long narrow pod. It is 10-28 cm long and 1.2 cm wide. It is usually curved or twisted. There can be 20 seeds. The seeds are 6-9 mm long.

Also as Mimosaceae.

Where it is found

It is a tropical plant. It grows in forest and along rivers.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Niger, Nigeria, Sahel, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia

How it is used for food

Fermented seeds are used as a flavouring in soup.

Edible parts

Fruit, seeds

How it is grown

Plants are grown from seed. Seeds germinate in about 6-30 days. Plants grow better if inoculated with the correct bacteria (Bradyrhizobium). This could usually be collected from the nodules on the roots of a plant growing well.

Its other names

Local names

Abobonkakyere, Musepa, Netechango

Synonyms

Pithecellobium altissimum (Hook. f.) Oliv.; Cathormion altissimum (Hook. f.) Hutch. & Dandy; Arthosamanea altissima (Hook. f.) G. C. C. Gilbert & Boutique;