Sausage tree

Sausage tree (Kigelia africana): The Sausage tree or Wurstbaum is an evergreen or semi-deciduous tree with a characteristic spreading crown that grows up to 15m high in the floodplains and riverbanks of the Kavango and Zambezi Region (formerly the Caprivi Strip). The bark is pale grey and the brittle leaves are pale green above and paler green on the undersides. Large, deep-red flowers bloom from August to October and onto December. It is the sight of the large, heavy fruits, sausage-shaped, that lends this tree its common name.

Kudu and elephant browse the leaves, bats pollinate the nectar-rich flowers which are also eaten by livestock and wildlife. The water is boiled by the Kavango people and once cooled is used to treat dysentery. Ripe fruit in inedible although the seeds can be roasted on coals and the kernels eaten. The grey-yellow wood is strong and tough and is used in the manufacture of huts and canoes and as fuel.