Parinari excelsa, the Guinea plum,[1] is a species of large, evergreen tree in the family Chrysobalanaceae. It has a very wide distribution in tropical Africa and South America.[2][3] This species grows to 50 m (160 ft) tall while the trunk is up to 1.5 m (5 ft) in diameter.[3]
Parinari excelsa is a large evergreen tree with a rounded or flattened crown, reaching a height of up to 50 m (160 ft). The trunk is cylindrical, or slightly sinuous, usually branchless in its lower half, with large buttresses at the base. The bark is greyish, either rough with warty lenticels, or deeply fissured and peeling away in flakes. The twigs are golden-brown and slightly hairy. The leaves are alternate, simple and entire, with small stipules and short petioles. The leaf blades are leathery, ovate or oblong-elliptical, and measure up to 10 by 5 cm (4 by 2 in). They have rounded bases and tapering apexes; the upper sides are bare but the undersides are densely felted with brown or grey hairs. The inflorescence is a brownish, hairy panicle, about 12 cm (5 in) long, growing at the tip of a shoot or in the axil of a leaf. The individual flowers are bisexual, with five pinkish petals, and are followed by drupes, some 6 by 4 cm (2.4 by 1.6 in), with fleshy pulp, which ripen to a yellowish or reddish-brown colour and contain large, hard stones.[1]
Parinari excelsa is native to the forests of tropical Africa and also grows in South America. In Africa its range extends from Senegal to Sudan, and southward to Angola and Mozambique. In South America its range extends from Costa Rica southward and eastward to Bolivia, Peru and Brazil. It is a rainforest species but does not grow in the wettest locations, and is found in dry evergreen forest and gallery forests, at elevations up to about 2,100 m (7,000 ft). It sometimes springs up in clear-felled areas, often in patches growing from seeds or root suckers, and may come to dominate parts of regenerating secondary forest.[1]
The fruits are attractive to elephants, which disperse the seeds in their dung; the tree does not regenerate well in mature forest, but does so in clearings and alongside tracks.[1] The Sanje mangabey in Tanzania also feeds on the fruit, cracking open the hard seeds with their powerful premolar teeth.[4]
At the Taï National Park on the Ivory Coast, chimpanzees consume a significant quantity of P. excelsa fruit.[5]
Parinari excelsa, the Guinea plum, is a species of large, evergreen tree in the family Chrysobalanaceae. It has a very wide distribution in tropical Africa and South America. This species grows to 50 m (160 ft) tall while the trunk is up to 1.5 m (5 ft) in diameter.
Parinari excelsa est une espèce de plantes de la famille des Chrysobalanaceae.
On l'appelle également le prunier de Guinée ou Mame Patan en Wolof, Bousoguaye ou Niniya en diola.
Le prunier de Guinée est un arbre à croissance rapide présent dans les forêts humides d'Afrique de l'Ouest. Il peut mesurer jusqu'à 45 m de hauteur et 4 m de diamètre.
Ses racines sont sinueuses et peu profondes.
Ses feuilles vert foncé sont brillantes sur la face supérieure.
Ses petites fleurs blanches apparaissant de mars à août donnent en décembre des fruits sentant la canne à sucre.
Son fruit globuleux et ovoïde large de 2 à 3 cm est comestible (pulpe et amande). Sa chair de couleur jaune a un goût d'avocat sucré et est riche en nutriments.
Il fait l'objet d'un petit commerce au Sénégal et en Guinée.
Son bois est utilisé en menuiserie pour faire des meubles, pour les charpentes et les voies de chemin de fer. C'est aussi un bon bois de chauffe.
Son bois très dense et lourd est difficile à travailler. Il est submersible s'il n'est pas préalablement correctement séché.
Compte tenu de sa vitesse de croissance, on l'utilise souvent dans les programmes de reboisement malgré sa sensibilité aux termites.
Dans son ouvrage intitulé Voyage aux pays mystérieux (1876), Louis Jacolliot a précisé : Cet arbre gigantesque a cela d'extraordinaire qu'il est, pendant toute l'année, couvert d'une grande quantité de petites grappes de fleurs blanches qui, par leur odeur délicieuse, attirent un nombre prodigieux d'abeilles. Pour retenir les abeilles sur cet arbre, les nègres suspendent aux branches, des ruches de paille très bien faites, enduites de bouse de vache pour en chasser les insectes. Les abeilles s'y précipitent avec empressement, et les ont bientôt garnies de rayons.
Parinari excelsa est une espèce de plantes de la famille des Chrysobalanaceae.
On l'appelle également le prunier de Guinée ou Mame Patan en Wolof, Bousoguaye ou Niniya en diola.
Parinari excelsa là một loài thực vật có hoa trong họ Cám. Loài này được Sabine mô tả khoa học đầu tiên năm 1824.[1]
Parinari excelsa là một loài thực vật có hoa trong họ Cám. Loài này được Sabine mô tả khoa học đầu tiên năm 1824.
