African mesquite

Prosopis africana, commonly known as African mesquite, iron tree or kirya, is a deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae native to the savannas and dry woodlands of tropical Africa, ranging from Senegal east to Ethiopia and south to Uganda. It typically grows 4 to 20 m tall with a spreading, rounded crown and a short, often crooked trunk bearing dark gray to almost black fissured bark. The leaves are bipinnate with two to four pairs of pinnae, each bearing 7 to 14 pairs of oblong leaflets. Small creamy-white to pale yellow flowers are borne in dense cylindrical spikes and are sweetly fragrant. The fruit is a thick, indehiscent, dark brown to nearly black cylindrical pod containing several hard seeds embedded in pulp. Unlike many of its American relatives, the species lacks thorns. Its wood is exceptionally dense and termite-resistant, and the fermented seeds are widely used as a traditional condiment in West African cuisine.