Sausage tree is indigenous to Uganda. A tree widespread in Africa, found in wet savannah and along rivers in moist forests 1,100-3,000 m. The flowers only open at night and are pollinated by bats and hawk-moths. In Kampala, this tree can found at Uganda Golf course club, Makerere II Zone C, Mulago hospital among other places.

A semi-deciduous tree with a rounded crown, to 9 m in open woodland but 18 m beside rivers.

BARK: grey-brown, smooth, flaking in round patches with age.

LEAVES: compound, growing in threes, at the end of branches, few leaflets, each broadly oval, very rough and hard, up to 10 cm, often with a sharp tip, edge wavy.

FLOWERS: on long rope-like stalks 2-3 m, horizontal, reddish branches, in threes, bear upturned trumpet-like flowers, petals folded and wavy, dark maroon with heavy yellow veins outside, an'unpleasant smell.

FRUIT: large grey-green "sausages", 30-60 cm long. Hanging stalks remain on the tree. Several kilos of fibrous pulp contain the seeds only released when fruit rots on the ground.

Edible: seeds are roasted and used as a famine food, the fruit is a common additive to ferment in preparing beer to increase the potency or to add to the flavor, nectar from the flowers is used as a source of sugar. http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php id=kigelia+africana

Medicine: leaves, bark, fruit, roots, inflorescence, stems, twigs. http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php id=kigelia+africana

Agroforestry: suitable for erosion control and riverbank stabilization.

Tannins can be extracted from the roots and stem bark and the fruit.

A black dye and a yellow dye can be obtained from the fruits and roots respectively.

The fruits are used to stand pots on in a fire as they are almost fire-proof. The husk is hollowed-out, fitted with a noose and bait and used as a mouse-trap.

Dolls are also made from the husks.

Some people make ladles and cups from the cut husk.

The wood is used for items such as fence-posts, dugout canoes, small items such as tool-handles, mortars, drums, boxes, and stools and the branch-wood is used for bows, and small branches are hollowed out to make enema tubes for use on children.

The wood is used for fuel.

An ornamental tree.

The fruits, and sometimes other plant parts, are also much used in ethnoveterinary medicine. https://uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Kigelia_africana_(PROTA)