Cordyla africana Lour.

Wild mango (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Cordyla

Characteristics

Tree up to 23 m high (in our area) with a somewhat rounded spreading crown; bark brown or grey, rough, longitudinally fissured. Leaves glabrous to sparingly pubescent; petiole 1.5-2.8 cm long; rhachis (4.5)9-22 cm long; leaflets (7)11-28, usually alternate, (1)2-4 cm long, (0.7)1-2 cm wide (in our area), oblong, oblong-elliptic or ovate-oblong, usually rounded apically and sometimes slightly emarginate, minutely appressed-puberulous beneath; petiolules 2-3 mm long, glabrous to sparingly pubescent. Racemes 1.5-6 cm long (in our area), usually borne on shoots of the current season's growth below the leaves; pedicles (and outside of receptacle and calyx) subglabrous to shortly and finely pubescent, 4-9 mm long. Flowers usually facing upward, orange-yellow. Calyx entire and turbinate in bud, splitting into 3-5 lobes on opening. Receptacle and calyx-lobes green, the latter with an apical tuft of yellowish pubescence. Petals absent. Stamens 23-45, orange-yellow, filaments up to 2 cm long, united basally. Ovary on a long stipe, glabrous. Fruits ellipsoid, oblong or spherical, ± oblique, 3-8 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, 1-3-seeded, yellow when ripe, edible. Seeds 1.6-3.2 cm long, 0.9-2 cm wide, embedded in pulp, somewhat compressed.
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Tree 9–24(?–40) m. high; bark brown or grey, rough, much fissured; crown bushy.. Leaves: petiole with rhachis (5–)9–24 cm. long; leaflets 11–28, oblong, oblong-elliptic or ovate-oblong, (1–)2–5 cm. long, (0.7–)1.2–2.4 cm. wide, rounded at apex and sometimes slightly emarginate, rounded at base, minutely appressed-puberulous beneath.. Racemes usually borne on shoots of current season below the leaves, 1.5–11 cm. long; pedicels (and outside of receptacle and calyx) subglabrous to shortly and finely pubescent, 4–9 mm. long.. Flowers (including stamens and ovary) 1.5–2.2(–3) cm. long.. Receptacle and calyx-lobes green, latter with tuft of yellowish pubescence at tip.. Stamens 23–45, orange-yellow.. Fruits ellipsoid, oblong or spherical, ± oblique, 4.5–8 cm. long, 3–6 cm. wide, yellow, 1–3-seeded.. Fig. 51, p. 222.
Medium to large tree to 23 m with a deciduous, almost flat, spreading crown. Bark: greyish-brown and rough in old trees. Leaves: compound; 11-28 alternate pairs of leaflets, with one at point of leaf axis; leaflets elliptic to oblong (20-40 x 10-20 mm); tip and base rounded, hairless, or minutely hairy below, pellucid glands and streaks visible, leaflets with 2-3 mm long petiolules, leaf axis up to 320 mm long, including petiole. Flowers: produced below the leaves in tight orange-yellow clusters; petals absent, stamens numerous and attractive, up to 25 mm long (Aug-Oct). Seeds produced in large oval pods (40-80 x 30-60 mm); yellow when ripe, seeds buried in an edible fleshy pulp (Dec-Feb).
It is a large tree. It grows up to 22 m tall. The trunk can be 1.2 m across. The branches spread widely. The bark is greyish brown and has furrows along it. The leaves are divided once. They are 25 cm long with about 9-12 pairs of leaflets with one at the end. The leaflets are 2.5-4 cm long. They are dark green and smooth. There are dots which let light through scattered over the leaf surface. The flowers occur in small sprays in the axils of leaves. The flowers face upwards and are filled with nectar. The fruit is a yellow fleshy succulent fruit. It is about 4 cm long and oval. It has a leathery skin and 1-8 seeds inside. The seeds are embedded in the sticky flesh. The fruit are edible.
Leaves: petiole and rachis together (5)9–24 cm long; leaflets 11–30, each (1)2–4(5) × (0.6)1–1.8(2.4) cm, oblong or oblong-elliptic or oblong-ovate, rounded to emarginate at the apex, rounded to truncate at the base, glabrous above, minutely appressed-pubescent beneath; petiolules up to 4 mm long.
Unarmed, deciduous tree, up to 23 m high. Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets 11-28, alternate, oblong, (10-)20-40 x (7-) 10-20 mm. Fruit ellipsoid, oblong or spherical, 30-80 x 20-60 mm, yellow when ripe. Flowers bright yellow.
Racemes usually borne in clusters on shoots of current season below the leaves, 1.5–6(11) cm long, appressed-pubescent; pedicels 3–4 mm long.
Usually a large deciduous tree up to 20(25) m high with a spreading crown; bark brown or grey, longitudinally fissured.
Seeds embedded in yellow sticky flesh, 1–4, c.3 × 1.5–1.8 cm, oblong.
Fruits up to 8 × 6 cm, the stipe c.2 cm long, ripening yellow.
Stamens 23–45, 13–21 mm long, yellow or orange-yellow.
Young branches glabrous or minutely pubescent.
Hypanthium 5–6 mm long, green.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 22.0 - 23.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Riverine vegetation and in forests with a high ground watertable, swamp forests, at low altitudes in hot dry areas from sea level to about 900 metres. Commonly found with Acacia albida on light fertile alluvium generally suitable for maize.
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A tropical tree. It grows in low altitudes in hot areas. It is often in swamp forest and along rivers. It grows between 10-900 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The fruit are eaten raw and fresh or cooked. Caution: The fruit can cause giddiness. The nectar if the flower is eaten. The seeds are dried then eaten.
Uses animal food environmental use food gene source gum material medicinal oil timber wood
Edible flowers fruits pods seeds
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Trees can be grown from fresh seeds.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Cordyla africana unspecified picture
Cordyla africana unspecified picture

Distribution

Cordyla africana world distribution map, present in Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Thailand, Tanzania, United Republic of, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Conservation status

Cordyla africana threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:487136-1
WFO ID wfo-0000171442
COL ID YCN6
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Cordyla africana