Kigela africana, or Sausage Tree, is a native of the southeastern region of Africa. This is the second year the tree has set fruit at the Lincoln Park Conervatory, the picture in this post is from last year. The fruits can weigh as much as 20 pounds each and measure 2 feet long. The tree gets its common name from, well, just look at it!
As the video below from ABC7 explains the sausage is actually a berry and has the tree has many medicinal uses.
Did Cheryl Burton just imply what I think she implied about Jerry Taft?
Filed under: Chicago Parks, LOL Garden
Tags: African Sausage Tree, Chicago Trees, Kigela africana, Lincoln Park Conservatory, Weird Plants
Very cool! Never heard of this plant (or fruit) before. I can definitely imagine some lively off-camera conversation on this story!
I forgot to point it at during the spring. I had meant to make a note of it when the garden bloggers were visiting. Wonder if it was still fruiting when they were all here.
I actually seen the Sausage tree fruiting at the Lincoln Park Conservatory in late December, and thought it looked very unreal.
It is pretty a pretty funky tree, right?