Zanthoxylum lemairei (De Wild.) P.G.Waterman

Tree up to 30 m. high, 30–70 cm. in diameter at the base; trunk clear of branches up to 25 m. high, base of the trunk slightly bell-shaped at soil-level, somewhat sinuous; bark greyish green towards the base and grey above, with narrow longitudinal fissures which are rather close together; conical woody prickle-bearing outgrowths appear on the trunk at about 5 m. above the ground, they have laterally compressed prickles, are 4 cm. wide at the base and up to 5 cm. long, often in vertical rows; crown about 5 m. high and hardly more than 5 m. in diameter, with little crooked branches arranged obliquely and bent upward at the tips, branches with a few spines less than 2 cm. in diameter.. Leaves 15–50 cm. long; rhachis unarmed or rarely with a few sparse prickles, 15–50 cm. long, furrowed or winged; petiolule 1.5–4 mm. long, winged; leaflets (3–)6–8 pairs, opposite or rarely subopposite, asymmetric, oblong-lanceolate, lanceolate or narrowly oblong-elliptic, 3–11 cm. long, 1.5–3.5 cm. broad, caudate-acuminate at the apex and with a narrow acumen 1–2 cm. long, rounded at the base, entire or sometimes crenate-serrulate towards the apex, glabrous, subcoriaceous; gland-dots sparsely distributed over the surface; lateral nerves 20–25 pairs, dark green and glossy on the upper surface, midrib whitish on both surfaces.. Inflorescence borne at the tips of branches, many-flowered, unarmed, paniculate, 5–15 cm. long; flowers 5-merous; pedicel 1–1.5 mm. long; peduncle and pedicels puberulent.. Sepals rounded at the apex, ciliate on the margin, puberulent outside.. Petals oblong-elliptic.. Male flower with a disk 1 mm. long, pistil rudimentary with an aborted carpel and a short cylindrical style.. Female flower with small staminodes; pistil with a subglobose carpel 1 mm. in diameter; style curved, 0.5 mm. long; stigma capitate.. Fruit a subglobose follicle 4–5 mm. in diameter, brownish red, foveolate, shortly stipitate.. Seed subglobose, 3–3.5 mm. in diameter, dark blue and shiny.

It is a tropical plant. It grows in closed forest in West Africa.

Oil is extracted from the seeds.