African kino

Pterocarpus erinaceus, the African kino or Senegal rosewood, is a medium-sized deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae, native to dry savanna woodland and gallery forest across West and Central Africa, from Senegal and Guinea east to Sudan and south to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It typically grows 12-15 m tall, occasionally to 25 m, with a short, often crooked trunk, rough dark grey bark that exudes a deep red, astringent gum (the 'kino' of commerce when wounded), and a spreading, open crown. The pinnate leaves bear five to seven pairs of alternate, oblong-ovate leaflets 4-12 cm long. Strongly fragrant, pea-shaped yellow flowers about 2 cm long are borne in pendulous panicles before or with the new leaves at the start of the rains, followed by flat, circular, bristly-edged, winged pods 5-7 cm across containing a single seed.