Irvingia wombolu
Irvingia wombolu
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
A plant of the moist tropics, growing in areas where the mean annual rainfall exceeds 1,500mm[1]. The tree starts flowering when 6 - 10 years old. It does not have a clearly demarcated flowering season, but flowering peaks at the end of the rainy season or beginning of the dry season, while fruiting peaks at the end of the dry season[1]. The fruits are mostly gathered from the ground around the tree. The next step consists of extracting the kernel from the seed, which is split in halves with a cutlass, after which the kernel is removed with the help of a knife. The kernels are then dried in the sun or on bamboo drying racks over the fireplace in the kitchen[1]. Good yields of kernels have been estimated at 100 kilos per tree per year[1]. The tree is intolerant of fire[1].
Propagation
Seed - it has a very short viability of around 1 month and so should be sown as soon as it is ripe[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Irvingia+wombolu>
Pollinators
Insects
References
- [1]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
- [2]African Flowering Plants Database — Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques. · http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php ↩︎Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
- [3]Irvingiaceae: Flora of the World Part 1: 1 - 25 — Harris. D.J. · Australian Biological Resources Study; Canberra · 1999 · ISBN 0 642 56800 6 ↩︎A monograph of the Irvingiaceae which includes some plant uses.