The sausage tree (Kigelia Africana)  

The sausage tree 

The sausage tree is an unusual tree featuring 3-24" long sausage shaped fruits, hanging down from the tree by long stems. The fruit sometimes weigh as much as 15 pounds. The botanical name is Kigelia Africana, and is found  across sub-Saharan tropical Africa. It is also called as Africa's tree of life. 

It is cultivated in other tropical countries and is used as an ornamental tree in Australia, the USA and parts of South-East Asia.

The generic name Kigelia comes from the Mozambican name for sausage tree, 'kigeli-keia’.

The flowers are blood red in color, and  grow on a stalk that hangs down from the tree stems. The fragrant, nectar-rich  flowers bloom at night and are pollinated by insects, bats and sunbirds.

flower stalk 

Flowers

The sausage tree is sacred to many African communities and has a wide variety of uses in traditional and Western medicine, including commercially available skin lotions.

the sausage tree 

Bust cream 

Every part of the tree is used in herbal medicines (eg for digestive and respiratory disorders, and to treat infections and wounds. Research into its anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-tumour activity is ongoing.

Both ripe and unripe fruits are poisonous to humans but the fruits can be dried and fermented, and used along with the bark to enhance the flavour of traditional beers. The seeds are sometimes roasted and eaten in times of food shortage.  The wood makes good quality timber for fences, planking, boxes and canoes. 

A short  movie on what's inside the sausage tree 

A short movie  on the iconic  tree called as  Africa’s tree of life

References: 

http://gadling.com/2010/10/21/the-inside-of-a-sausage-fruit/

https://www.hawaii-aloha.com/blog/2010/07/26/sausage-tree-in-hawaii/