Irvingia wombolu Vermoesen

A tree. It grows 25 m tall. The trunk is 80 cm across. It has buttresses 2 m high. The crown is dense and round. The leaves are alternate and simple. The leaf blade is 10-14 cm long by 4-6 cm wide. The flowers are in a group 9 cm long in the axils of leaves and are yellow. The fruit is fleshy and oval. It is 5-8 cm long by 4-5 cm wide. They are green but turn yellow when ripe. The pulp is yellow and soft. There is a woody stone with one seed.

Evergreen lowland forest, mostly seasonally flooded, and on damp soil, beside streams; valley forest; also forest on dry land; in small patches of forest and gallery forest; at elevations around 900-1,170 metres.

The seeds are removed and pounded into a paste and eaten with greens and other sauces. The dried seeds are used in soups. The fruit is bitter and slimy but is occasionally used to thicken soups.

Plants are usually grown from seed. Fresh seed is used. Seed lose their viability after one month.