Sierra leone-tamarind

Dialium guineense, the Sierra Leone tamarind or velvet tamarind, is an evergreen tree in the Fabaceae family native to coastal West and Central Africa, where it occurs in lowland rainforest, gallery forest, and savanna woodland. The tree typically reaches twelve to twenty metres in height with a dense, rounded crown and smooth grey to brownish bark that exudes a reddish gum when injured. The alternate leaves are pinnately compound, bearing five to seven asymmetric leaflets with rounded tips and slightly wavy margins; young foliage is reddish before maturing to glossy dark green. Small whitish or pale yellow fragrant flowers are borne in large terminal panicles. The fruits are roughly spherical pods about two centimetres in diameter, covered with a brittle black velvety shell that encloses a dry orange-brown pulp with a sweet, tangy, tamarind-like flavour and a single hard seed. The pulp is widely eaten fresh and used in beverages.