Dialium guineense

Dialium guineense, the velvet tamarind, is a tall, tropical, fruit-bearing tree in the family Fabaceae. It has small, typically grape-sized, edible fruits with brown, hard, inedible shells.

Dialium guineense
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Genus:	Dialium
Species:	D. guineense
Binomial name
Dialium guineense Willd.
Synonyms
Codarium acutifolium Afzel. Codarium discolor DC. Codarium nitidum Sol. ex Vahl Codarium obtusifolium Afzel. Codarium solanderi Vahl Dialium anomalum Webb Dialium discolor Hook.f. Dialium nitidum (Sol. ex Vahl) Guill. & Perr.

Distribution and habitat

Dialium guineense is native to West Africa, from Senegal east to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It grows in dense forests along the southern edge of the Sahel.

Uses

The bark and leaves have medicinal properties and are used against several diseases.

Fruit

Fruit

Each fruit typically has one hard, flat, round, brown seed, typically 7-8 millimeters across and 3 millimeters thick. The seed somewhat resembles a watermelon seed (Citrullus lanatus). Some have two seeds. The seeds are shiny, coated with a thin layer of starch.

The pulp is edible and may be eaten raw or soaked in water and consumed as a beverage. The bitter leaves are ingredients in a Ghanaian dish called domoda.

African Velvet tamarind

Timber

Wood is hard and heavy and used for construction. The wood is also used for firewood and charcoal production

External links

• World Agroforestry
• Dressler, S.; Schmidt, M. & Zizka, G. (2014). "Dialium guineense". African plants – a Photo Guide. Frankfurt/Main: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg.
• Media related to Dialium guineense at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Dialium guineense at Wikispecies