A tall forest tree bearing distinctive twisted, dark bean-like pods, valued across West Africa as a spice.
Ethiopian pepper or grains of Selim (Xylopia aethiopica, family Annonaceae) is an evergreen tree 15 to 30 metres tall with a narrow, many-branched crown and a clear, straight trunk 25 to 70 cm across, often with short prop roots or buttresses. It is a multipurpose tree of great importance in the local economy, supplying food, many medicines, wood and other goods. Its fruit was once exported to Europe and is still traded across much of Africa, sold in markets as a spice and medicine. It is often grown near villages and protected when it grows in forest, and it is sometimes planted for ornament and shade.
It grows from Senegal to Sudan and south to Angola, Zambia and Mozambique, in lowland rainforest, coastal brackish swamps and shore vegetation, and in the deciduous and fringing forests of the Guinea savanna. It is a tree of the moist lowland tropics, at 200 to 500 metres, where temperatures average 20 to 31°C and rainfall is 1,500 to 2,500 mm a year, on well-drained loam and sandy loam. Young trees grow fast for their first three years, and a hectare typically yields two to three tonnes of fruit a year.
Source: Useful Tropical Plants database (Fern, K.).
Fruits, seeds, and bark are used traditionally for coughs, respiratory infections, rheumatism, malaria, and menstrual and fertility complaints; crushed seeds are applied to the forehead for headache.
The dried pods are used whole or ground as a peppery, musky spice in soups, stews, and smoked-fish preparation.
A forest tree, harvested from the wild and increasingly grown in home gardens and agroforestry systems.