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African Dryland Alliance for Pesticidal Plant Technologies:

A network for optimising and promoting the use of indigenous botanical knowledge for food security and poverty alleviation in Africa

African Dryland Alliance for Pesticidal Plant Technologies

Bobgunnia madagascariensis

Bobgunnia madagascariensis, commonly known as Madagascar bean or Swartzia madagascariensis. Notable for its large, dark purple to almost black seed pods hanging amongst green leafy branches

Fabaceae

General

Usually a small deciduous tree, 3-4 m in height. Stems and branches often much twisted and contorted; bark dark grey rough and fissured. leaves imparipinnate with 5-11 alternate to subopposite leaflets; leaflets elliptic to obovate, 2.5-7 cm, leathery, dark green and hairless above, yellowish velvety below. Flowers in lax 2-10-flowered sprays, with one large white petal and a mass of orange yellow stamens, sweetly scented. Pod cylindric, up to 30 cm, dark brown to black when ripe, indehiscent. Found in deciduous woodland and wooded grassland, often on sandy soils throughout tropical and southern Africa.

Bobgunnia madagascariensis plant