Dalbergiella nyasae

Dalbergiella nyasae Baker f.

Common names

Mane pod (English); kakwete, lupwesya (Bemba); chifunda-visungu, mkulasinga, mukula-mnsinga (Kunda); kafundakweo (Nyanja, Tumbuka); chiyumbu, mlembela, mlundo, mlungamo, mterevere, muluza, nchipya-kadi, kafunda, mkanga-njovu, msansale, kakanga-njovu, mkanga-nzovu Nyanja); musansale (Tumbuka).

General description and distinguishing characteristics

A deciduous small to medium-sized tree, up to 12 m tall, with a dense crown. Bark greyish brown with deep, vertical fissures. Leaves compound, imparipinnate, clustered on short side branches with 13-21 leaflets; leaflets oblong to elliptic, 3-6 x 1-3 cm, glossy green above, rusty pilose on lower midrib and petiolules, asymmetric with a rounded apex. Flowers small, pea-shaped, whitish cream to pink with a mauve spot at the base of the standard petal. Produced in dense, sweetly scented sprays up to 25 cm long; flower stalks covered in dense velvety brown hairs with or just before the new leaves. (September-October). Fruit a distinctive, flattened oblong, indehiscent pod, 6-8 x 2-3 cm, velvety, yellowish, with a papery texture and a characteristic fringe of long, dark brown hairs around the edge of the pod. Fruits ripen October to April.

Range and habitat

Dalbergiella nyasae is found throughout the Zambezian region north of the Limpopo and is generally associated with low altitude deciduous woodland and thicket. In the Luangwa valley it is associated with the levees and sand deposits of major rivers, and is widespread throughout the south park except in seasonally inundated areas.