Changes

*Usually dioecious, small to medium-sized tree, usually 9–12 m tall but occasionally up to 18 m, with a taproot and sturdy lateral roots extending as far as 30 m; bole short (usually ca. 4 m), up to 120 cm in diameter; bark pale silvery or purplish-grey on small individuals, rough on large individuals, with flat, roundish scales; crown rounded, with rather dense foliage, spreading widely in large, old trees; branchlets stout, the leaves clustered at the ends. *Leaves alternate, 8–38 cm long, imparipinnate with 3-18 pairs of leaflets; stipules absent; petiole, rachis and petiolules glabrous, channelled; lateral leaflets subsessile or with petiolules up to 3 cm long, terminal leaflet with a petiolule up to 5 cm, leaflets round to oblong-elliptical or elliptical, 1–9 cm × 0.5–3.5 cm, length increasing up the rachis, asymmetrical and cuneate or rounded at base, obtuse, acute, acuminate or acuminate-caudate at apex, margin entire or (in juvenile state) dentate-serrate, glabrous, with 6–16 pairs of lateral veins. *Male inflorescence a terminal or axillary, drooping raceme 5–22 cm long, with flowers in groups of 3–4 towards the base but solitary towards the apex; female inflorescence reduced, subterminal and spiciform, with 1–2(–3) flowers. *Flowers unisexual, regular, 4–5-merous; pedicel 0.5–5 mm long in male flowers, 0.5–1 mm long in female flowers; sepals free or almost free, ovate-round, 2–3.5 mm × 1–2.5 mm, spreading, usually reddish; petals free, obovate to oblong-ovate, 4–6 mm × 2.5–4 mm, becoming reflexed in male flowers, remaining erect in female flowers, yellowish to reddish; male flowers with (10–)15–25(–30) stamens 3–4 mm long, inserted round a subentire, yellow disk; female flowers with a superior, subglobular, 2–3(–4)-celled ovary immersed in the disk, crowned by 2–3 short, lateral styles ending in a capitate stigma, and 15–26 staminodes. *Fruit an obovoid to subglobular drupe 3–3.5 cm in diameter, yellow at maturity, on a 10–15 mm long pedicel; skin thick, mesocarp fibrous, fleshy and juicy and adherent to the hard stone 2.5–3 cm × 1.5–2.5 cm with (1–)3(–4) compartments, each with a flattened seed. *Seeds obclavate, compressed, 15–20 mm × 4–8 mm × 2.5 mm, with papyraceous brownish testa; cotyledons plano-convex. *Seedling with first leaves trifoliolate having sessile, pinnately veined leaflets with dentate margins.

*Growth rings: 2: growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent. *Vessels: 5: wood diffuse-porous; 13: simple perforation plates; 22: intervessel pits alternate; 23: shape of alternate pits polygonal; 26: intervessel pits medium (7–10 μm); 27: intervessel pits large (<font size="1">≥</font> 10 μm); 31: vessel-ray pits with much reduced borders to apparently simple: pits rounded or angular; 32: vessel-ray pits with much reduced borders to apparently simple: pits horizontal (scalariform, gash-like) to vertical (palisade); 42: mean tangential diameter of vessel lumina 100–200 μm; 47: 5–20 vessels per square millimetre. *Tracheids and fibres: 61: fibres with simple to minutely bordered pits; 65: septate fibres present; 68: fibres very thin-walled; 69: fibres thin- to thick-walled. *Axial parenchyma: 75: axial parenchyma absent or extremely rare; 78: axial parenchyma scanty paratracheal; 92: four (3–4) cells per parenchyma strand. *Rays: 97: ray width 1–3 cells; 106: body ray cells procumbent with one row of upright and/or square marginal cells; (107: body ray cells procumbent with mostly 2–4 rows of upright and/or square marginal cells); 115: 4–12 rays per mm. *Secretory elements and cambial variants: 130: radial canals. *Mineral inclusions: 136: prismatic crystals present; 137: prismatic crystals in upright and/or square ray cells; (156: crystals in enlarged cells).

Hall, John B., 2002. '''Sclerocarya birrea''' (A.Rich.) Hochst. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. Oyen, L.P.A. & Lemmens, R.H.M.J. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>.