Pterocarpus santalinoides | |
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Pterocarpus santalinoides inflorescences, Comoé-Léraba reserve, Burkina Faso | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Faboideae |
Genus: | Pterocarpus |
Species: | P. santalinoides
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Binomial name | |
Pterocarpus santalinoides | |
Synonyms[3] | |
Lingoum esculentum (Schum. & Thonn.) Kuntze |
Pterocarpus santalinoides is a tree species in the legume family (biology) (Fabaceae); it is locally known as mututi.[3]
It has a remarkable bi-continental distribution, native to tropical western Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo) and also to South America (Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela).[4]
It grows to 9–12 m tall, with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter and flaky bark. The leaves are pinnate, 10–20 cm long, with 5–9 leaflets. The flowers are orange-yellow, produced in panicles. The fruit is a pod 3.5–6 cm long, with a wing extending three-quarters around the margin.[5]