Baikiaea Benth.

Unarmed evergreen (or rarely, in B. plurijuga, deciduous) trees. Leaves simply pari-or imparipinnate; leaflets usually alternate, sometimes opposite, without pellucid gland-dots, with a small ± marked swelling near the posticous margin of each leaflet close to the base. Inflorescences of terminal or axillary racemes. Flowers hermaphrodite, pedicellate, distichously arranged along the inflorescence-axes; bracteoles usually small, not enclosing the flower-buds, imbricate, almost valvate, fulvous-villous-tomentose inside, shortly and soon falling off. Sepals 4, the posticous one larger than the rest, very narrowly densely fuscous-or paler brown-tomentellous outside. Petals 5, 4 of them equal, the fifth narrower and usually differently coloured, all obovate, free, imbricate, crinkled around edges, villous along and near midrib. Stamens 10; filaments glabrous or villous below, one of them free, the rest connate at base into a short tube; anthers dorsifixed, dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Ovary stipitate, tomentose; ovules 1 to many; style elongate, glabrous, with an enlarged peltate depressed-subglobose stigma. Pods flattened, woody, dehiscing into two valves. Seeds large, exareolate, with thin and fragile or else hard testa.