Common name: Black Pearl Tree, Velvet Seed Tree, Mgambo Tree
Botanical name: Majidea zanguebarica　 

Family: Sapindaceae (Soapberry family)
Synonyms: Majidea zanquebarica, Harpullia zanguebarica

 

flower

 

fruit

 

Black Pearl Tree is a small tree growing to 5 m tall. Leaves are compound, even pinnate, with up to 10 pairs leaflets. Leaflets are elliptic or ovate- lancelike, 5-7 cm long and 2-3 cm wide. Flowers are small green-red, fragrant, in dense custers at the end of panicles. Fruit is spherical with 3 lobes, 3cm long. The fruit splits open, showing the bright red interior, with 3 spherical, velvety blue-black seeds, which inspire the common name of the tree. Black Pearl Tree is native to Africa.

 

Photographed in XIshuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG)