WorldFloraDB - Piliostigma reticulatum

Characteristics

A woody evergreen shrub or small tree. It grows up to 9 m high. The trunk is short and 30 cm across. The bark is deeply cracked. The leaves are alternate and have 2 lobes. The leaf stalk is 1-4 cm long and the leaf blade is 5-12 cm long by 4-18 cm wide. It is heart shaped or rounded at the base. The flowers are of separate sexes and 2.5 cm across. The fruit is an oblong pod 15-30 cm long by 3-5 cm wide. It can be straight or twisted. It is hard and woody. There are many seeds.

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Tree, to 30 ft. high, with spreading crown

Petals white

Life form	perennial
Growth form	tree
Growth support	free-standing
Foliage retention	evergreen
Sexuality	dioecy
Pollination	-
Spread	-
Mature width (meter)	-
Mature height (meter)	8.5
Root system	-
Rooting depth (meter)	-
Root diameter (meter)	-
Flower color
Blooming months	-
Fruit color	-
Fruiting months	-
Nitrogen fixer	-
Photosynthetic pathway	c3

Environment

A tropical plant. It grows in clay depressions and sandy loamy soil. It grows in the Sahel. It grows in areas with a rainfall between 200-1,000 mm per year. It can grow from sea level to 2,000 m above sea level. It grows in savannah woodland. It can grow in arid places.

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Drier savannah regions; plateau with ferrugineous hard-pan; dunes; forming bush on fallow land; valleys; flooded or humid areas; sandy-clayey soil; cultivations on sand; very poor soils; deteriorated sandstone; at elevations up to 945-1825 metres.

In the drier savannah regions.

Light	-
Soil humidity	-
Soil texture	-
Soil acidity	-
Soil nutriment	-
Hardiness (USDA)

Usage

The leaves are used for drinks. They are also used to flavour porridge. They are acidic. They are also dried. The fruit are used for drinks. The young pods are pounded and boiled. The bark and sap are used to purify water. They help coagulate cloudy matter in the water.

Uses	animal food bee plant dye environmental use fiber fodder food food additive fuel gene source invertebrate food material medicinal social use wood
Edible	fruits leaves pods seeds
Therapeutic use	Soap (unspecified), Toothache (unspecified)
Human toxicity	-
Animal toxicity	-

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seed. The seeds germinate poorly and this can be improved by soaking them in hot water overnight. Seedlings can be transplanted 5-7 weeks after sowing.

Mode	seedlings
Germination duration (days)	-
Germination temperacture (C°)	-
Germination luminosity	-
Germination treatment	soaking
Minimum temperature (C°)	-
Optimum temperature (C°)	-
Size	-
Vigor	-
Productivity	-