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<big>''[[Cordyla pinnata]]'' (Lepr. ex A.Rich.) Milne-Redh.</big>

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Cordyla pinnata'' (PROTA)}}

:Protologue: Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 41: 232 (1937).

:Chromosome number: 2''n'' = 20

== Vernacular names ==

The approximate composition of ripe fruits per 100 g edible portion is: water 80 g, energy 294 kJ (70 kcal), protein 1.4 g, fat 1.0 g, carbohydrate 18 g, fibre 1.1 g, Ca 29 mg, P 142 mg, Fe 1.8 mg, β-carotene 310 μg, thiamin 0.02 mg, niacin 8 mg and ascorbic acid 74 mg.

Deciduous small tree up to 15(–20) m tall; bole branchless for up to 10 m, but usually shorter, often straight and cylindrical; bark surface fissured and scaly, pale brown to dark brown, inner bark yellow-orange; crown rounded, dense; twigs short hairy, becoming glabrous. Leaves arranged spirally, imparipinnately compound with 10–20 leaflets; stipules small, caducous; petiole and rachis together up to 25 cm long; petiolules up to 5 mm long; leaflets alternate to nearly opposite, oblong to oblong-elliptical or oblong-ovate, 4–7 cm × 2–3 cm, rounded to slightly notched at apex, glabrous or minutely hairy beneath, often with minute pellucid dots. Inflorescence an axillary raceme up to 8 cm long, densely hairy. Flowers bisexual or male, regular; pedicel up to 1 cm long; hypanthium bell-shaped, c. 0.5 cm long, greenish; calyx initially entire but splitting into (3–)5 reflexed lobes, greenish, short-hairy; petals absent; stamens numerous, inserted at rim of hypanthium, 2–3 cm long, whitish; ovary superior, ellipsoid, 1-celled, on a long stipe, style short. Fruit an ellipsoid to nearly globose, indehiscent, berry-like pod 4–8 cm × 3–6 cm, green to yellow when ripe, with stipe of c. 2 cm long, with 2–3 seeds embedded in yellowish, sticky pulp. Seeds oblong, c. 3 cm long, without seed coat and endosperm.

Trees usually flower from the middle of the dry season to the beginning of the rainy season before the development of new leaves. In Senegal it fruits in June–July, at the beginning of the rainy season. The growth of seedlings is very slow; they are about 20 cm tall at the end of the first rainy season and 40 cm tall after 2 years.

The name ''Cordyla africana'' has commonly been used incorrectly for ''Cordyla pinnata''. The true ''Cordyla africana'' Lour. is restricted to East and southern Africa. It differs in its inflorescences that usually appear together with the leaves on young shoots, less hairy flowers and less numerous, stouter, orange-yellow stamens.

== Ecology ==

''Cordyla pinnata'' occurs in dry forest, woodland and savanna, in regions with an annual rainfall of 600–1500 mm. In parkland savanna in Senegal it is the dominant woody species, with as other major tree species ''Lannea acida'' A.Rich., ''Anogeissus leiocarpa'' (DC.) Guill. & Perr. and ''Tamarindus indica'' L. In this parkland, the soils are characterized by much sand (about 84%), little loam (8%), little organic matter (0.8%) and poor water holding capacity. ''Cordyla pinnata'' grows better on alluvial soils.

== Management ==

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