Entada ubanguiensis De Wild.

Entada africana is a small tree up to 4-10 m in height and 90 cm in girth; branching low down, with a wide crown; bark brown-grey to black, very rough, transversely striped, scaly, peeling in long fibrous strips, slash fibrous, red or yellow-brown. Leaves bipinnate, alternate, 3-9 pairs, with a glabrous common stalk 15-45 cm; rachis 25-30 cm long with 2-9 pairs of pinnae; 8-24 pairs of leaflets. Leaflets 2-3 x 0.5-1.5 cm, elongated elliptic with the apex rounded and occasionally minutely notched, the base asymmetrical with the lower edge more rounded than the upper; midrib and nerves distinct on both surfaces. Flowers creamy-white or reddish-yellow, about 6 mm long, slightly scented, densely clustered in spike-like racemes 5-15 cm long including the short central stalk; spikes solitary or in small clusters in the leaf axils or arranged in panicles at the ends of shoots, 1-4. Sepals glabrous, small, 5-lobed; petals 3 x 1 mm, spatulate; 10 free stamens. Fruit is a pod, 15-40 x 5-8 (15) cm, very persistent, hanging down untidily for many months and eventually breaking up on the tree, very flat and fragile (papery), with the seeds showing through, straight or slightly curved, with thick wavy margins, red-brown on the outside; breaking open with segments of the dry interior part of the pod, containing 10-15 broad elliptic flat seeds about 12 mm long; on breaking up, the outer coat of each segment of the pod peels off, the straw-coloured inner coat remaining attached to the seed and acting as a wing. Seeds 2-winged.

In Nigeria, flowers appear with the new leaves in February to April.

E. africana grows in high rainfall savannah areas. Trees are found in the Sudan zone, only exceptionally penetrating into the southern Sahel, in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda and Zaire. It occurs on the lower slopes or banks of swamps, on ground water sites. It is very sensitive to bush fires, often mutilated by it, and is widespread and abundant in Nigeria.

E. africana has been cultivated in Burkina Faso on trial basis.

On average, there are 4 000 seeds/kg.

Fodder: Leaves of E. africana make good fodder. Fibre: Bast fibres are used for ropes and bands; the bark of the root and stem yields a long fibre used for cordage, commonly for roof binding and grass matting. Timber: Wood is light red, soft and easy to work. Gum or resin: E. africana yields a low-quality gum. Tannin or dyestuff: The bark contains tannin. Poison: An infusion of the leaves at a concentration of 1:1 000 kills Carassius auratus (goldfish) in 12 hours. Medicine: The bark is said to have abortive effects while a root decoction is a stimulating agent and tonic. The plant is said to have antidote effects against various toxic agents because of its emetic properties. Healing and fever-reducing beverages are prepared from leaves, bark, roots and shoots. In northern Nigeria and northern Ghana, an infusion of the leaves, or of the bark is taken as a tonic and for stomachache. The leaves also constitute a good wound dressing, preventing suppuration.