Mammea africana Sabine

A large tree. It grows to 30 m high. The trunk is 4 m across. The bark is dark orange or yellow. It flakes off in scales. The leaves are opposite. They are 12.5-25 cm long by 5-7,5 cm wide. The sap is yellow. The flowers are about 3.5 cm across. They have white petals and yellow stamens. They occur singly or a few in a group is the axils of leaves. They have a strong straight stalk 3.5 cm long. The fruit are on thick stalks. The fruit are round and 10 cm across. They turn orange when ripe. They have a thick skin covered with warts. There are 3 or more hard seeds. The seeds are 5 cm long and have fibrous coats. The pulp of the fruit is yellow and edible.

Wetter sites of the forest zone. Evergreen and moist semi-deciduous forests at elevations up to 1,000 metres. Often found on seasonally inundated alluvial soils, where it may form small stands, though it is usually scattered in the forest.

The ripe fruit are eaten fresh. The seeds are eaten. The seed oil is used as cooking fat.

Plants are grown from seed. Seeds germinate slowly taking up to 8 months. They should be soaked in water for 24 hours before planting.