Assignment Two(BF)
The Kigelia Africana is commonly known as the Sausage Tree. This tree is indigenous to South Africa. It is an evergreen that thrives in tropical weather and can be found globally. Other names include: Umvongothi (IsiZulu), Worsboom (Afrikaans), Balaam Kheera (Hindi), Yanaai Pudukan (Tamil), Mbungati, Mwegea and Mvongonya (Swahili), and Muratina in Kikuyu, a language spoken in Kenya. It is a large rounded tree with a thick trunk and smooth grey bark. It has attractive maroon flowers with an unpleasant smell, and bears the sausage-shaped fruit. It has numerous uses and each part of the tree is functional. The mashed form of the fruit can be applied to ulcers and sores as it wards off germs that cause further infection. It may also assists in soothing stomach ailments, rheumatism, toothache and to treat dysentery, ringworm, tapeworm, and pneumonia. Research suggests that the use of Kigelia Africana during treatment has benefits for patients with renal cell cancer.
Cosmetically, Tonga women apply the fruit pulp on their skin for protection. This has created an opportunity for the commercial industry to mass produce creams and gels to reduce wrinkles and firm the skin. Men have also been using the bark and fruit for firewood, the trunk to make boats as transportation over Botswana rivers, for yokes, oars, shelves and the native xylophone. Carvings of the fruit have been depicted in drawings of the Kama Sutra. Some traditional healers claim that the fruit is a phallic symbol and can be used to enlarge genitalia in both male and female, but there is not sufficient scientific evidence in these claims. The Sausage tree is food to the baboons, bush pigs, elephants, giraffes, hippos, kudus, monkeys and parrots. Research on the leaf indicates that it is edible and nutritious, like leafy green vegetables such as spinach. Roasted seeds of the Kigelia are used in the fermentation of traditional beer and the flower is commonly eaten by Hindus in India. Caution has to be taken though when eating parts of the tree, as the fruit itself is poisonous when eaten raw and has a strong laxative effect. Despite pollination by bats, the Sausage tree is at risk from alien vegetation. Trees are the lungs of the earth. An organization that has managed to plant over 40 million trees is the Green Belt Movement, whose founder is the late Dr Wangari Maathai, a Nobel Prize winner, who urged us all to plant and preserve trees in order for mankind to combat global warming and create for ourselves a healthy living environment. Communities should play their roles in preserving this tree as it some of useful plants.
References[edit]
http://pza.sanbi.org/kigelia-africana https://www.thestandard.co.zw/2013/02/10/enlarge-at-your-own-risk/
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