Hymenaea martiana (Hayne) Hayne

An evergreen tree. It grows 8-18 m high. It has a leafy crown. The branches are swollen and hairy when young. The trunk is 40-90 cm across. The leaves are compound with 2 leaflets. They are 5-7 cm long by 3 cm wide. The flowers are at the ends of branches. They are white. The fruit is cylinder shaped pods 15 cm long. They have 5-8 seeds.

Savannah, Atlantic rainforest and forests in semi-arid areas; usually in the more open and secondary growth areas; favouring moister clay soils on the floodplains.

The aril or later around the seeds is eaten raw.

The plant is grown from seeds. The seeds are removed from the pod and the pulp removed. The tough seed coat needs to be scratched to enable them to germinate more easily. Seeds need to be planted fresh. Seeds grow in 15-30 days.