Description
A tall palm with a distinctive swollen trunk and massive fan-shaped leaves, found across savanna Africa.
Medicinal Uses
One of the most-used palms in African traditional medicine, especially against malaria; the root is used as a mouthwash and against stomach parasites, bronchitis, sore throat, and asthma, and the leaves are reportedly used as an aphrodisiac.
Food Uses
The fruit is eaten fresh, dried, or cooked; young seedlings and the apical bud are eaten as a vegetable; the sap is tapped for palm wine or vinegar.
Cultivation
A slow-growing wild and semi-cultivated palm of savanna woodland, taking years to develop its characteristic swollen trunk.
