281 



PARKIA, R. Br. 



Parkia biglobosa, Benth. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 324. 



III. — Pal. de Beauv. Fl. Ow. Ben. ii. t. 90 {Inga biglobosa) ; Geel, 

 Sert. Bot. vi. (P. africana) ; Rchb. Exot. iv. t. 23 L (P. africana) ; 

 Ralph, Ic. Carp. t. 10, f . 3 ; De Rochebrune, Toxicol. Afr. ii. fasc. 1, 

 p. 118, f. 135 ; p. 159, ft. 138-139 (pod and seed) ; Pobeguin, Fl. 

 Guin. Franc, t. 50. 



Vernac. names. — Nete, Nitta or Nutta (Yoloff, Moloney) ; Nettie 

 or Oule, Gambia, Whitely) ; [Nere (Nalou) ; Oulle (Ouolof, &c.) ; 

 Neretou (Upper Niger) ; Doroa (Sokoto) ; Rounno (Bornou) ; Fraoba 

 (Boulain, Bissagos) De Rochbrune~\ ; Doura (Soudan, Moloney) ; 

 Houlle (Serere, &c, Moloney, De Rochebrune) ; Nadi (Sierra Leone, 

 Scott Elliot) ; Kamdah (W. Africa, Hillier). — African Locust, Arbre 

 Sacre, Cafe de Soudan. 



West Tropical Africa. 



The pulp of the pods is eaten and the parched seeds used like 

 coffee as a beverage. The natives of the Sudan ferment the roasted 

 seeds in water, and after pounding, make them into cakes for use as 

 sauce (Moloney, For. W. Afr. p. 339). The pods contain a large 

 proportion of saccharine matter, and the flour has been suggested as 

 a source of sugar (Comptes Rendus, cxlvi. 1908, pp. 187-189), but 

 there appears to be no claim to successful competition with the 

 product of the sugar-cane (Inter. Sugar Journ, xi. 1909, p. 161). 



The leaves and roots, beaten up with water, are used as a remedy 

 for sore eyes on the Gambia (Kew Bull. 1908, p. 314). 



The wood is suitable for carpentry work (Moloney, I.e. ; De Wilde- 

 man, PL Util. Congo, Art. xxvi. 1904, p. 379). 



The bark is used by the Mandingoes (Gambia) as a specific for 

 toothache (Brown Lester, Kew Bull. 1892, p. 47). 



May be propagated by seed. Common on laterite soil, Sierra 

 Leone (Scott Elliot, Herb. Kew). 



Ref. — " Sar le Nere ou Nete du Soudan {Parkia biglobosa) " et la 

 puissance alimentaire de ses graines employees au Soudan, Heckel, 

 in Journ. de Pharm. et de Chimie, 15 June, 1887, etBull. de la Soc. de 



Geog. de Marseille, 1887. "Parkia biglobosa, in Toxicologic 



Africaine, De Rochbrune, ii. fasc. 1, 1898, pp. 147-173 (Octave Doin, 

 Paris, 1898). "Parkia biglobosa, in PI. Utiles Congo, De Wilde- 

 man ii. fasc. 1, 190G, pp. 140-143. " Parkia africana," in les Veg. 



Utiles de 1'Afr. Trop. Franc. Chevalier, Perrot et Gerard, iii. pp. 

 114-118. " Parkia africana;" in Kew Bull. 1908, pp. 314-315. 



Parkia filicoidea, Welw.\ Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 324. 



III.— Sim, For. Fl. and For. Res. Port. E. Afr. t. 44. 



Vernac. names. — Irugba (Lagos, Oloke Meji, Thompson, Foster, 

 Dawodu); Dorowa (Hausa, Dudgeon); Dorowa (Kontagora, Dal: id): 

 Kundi or Nkundi (Nyasaland, Purves) ; Gumwi (Sierra Leone, 

 Unwiri) ; [Mudus, Lu (Sudan) ; Eru (Yoruba), Loensi (N. Nigeria), 

 Bull. Imp. Inst.] ; Mundi or Moondi (Echuabo, Quelimane, Sim). — 

 West African Locust Bean. 



Lagos, Oloke Meji, Zungeru. Widely distributed in West Africa. 



The pods and seeds are used like those of P. biglobosa ; recom- 

 mended for fodder locally (Col. Rep. Misc. No. 31, 1905, p. 21). The 

 leaves and pods pounded and mixed with broken stones form a hard 

 cement, used to plaster the floors of native huts and the sides of 

 indigo pits. 



