While in Honolulu recently, my husband and I noticed some unusual flowers on the walkway of the hotel.
Sausage in hand. (photos by Sharon Rico)
They fell from an ornamental tree known as the Sausage Tree. The
Kigelia africana is from tropical Africa
and is used for food, medicine, timber and skin ointments. Many consider the tree to be sacred. Both the ripe and unripe fruits are poisonous to humans, although they can be fermented, roasted and used along with the bark to flavor traditional beers. It grows well in Hawaii, reaching approximately 50 feet tall. It had a broad canopy and exhibited large sausage-shaped fruits hanging from the branches. The flowers of the sausage tree open at night. They are pollinated by fruit bats, butterflies and moths, that are attracted to the flowers by the strong, stinky smell. The bark of the tree is smooth and the glossy leaves grow in threes at the end of the branches. The flowers were red and maroon with yellow veining and littered the ground and sidewalks. Picking up the flowers that had fallen, we found them to be velvety and sticky with nectar. The roots of the Sausage Tree are invasive and the falling fruits can be heavy enough to damage a parked vehicle. It is a popular shade tree in tropical Africa, Australia and Hawaii. An ideal place to plant a
Kigelia africana would be in the middle of a park, away from streets and walkways. We were fascinated with this unusual tree and had to take several pictures before continuing our walk.
