Isoberlinia doka

Isoberlinia doka is a medium-sized deciduous tree in the legume family (Fabaceae, subfamily Detarioideae), one of the dominant canopy trees of the Sudanian woodland savannas that stretch across West and Central Africa from Senegal to Sudan and Uganda. Mature trees commonly reach 8-16 meters in height, with a broad spreading crown and a relatively straight bole bearing rough, dark grey, flaking bark that exposes paler under-bark in patches. The leaves are alternate and paripinnate, typically with three to four pairs of large opposite leaflets; each leaflet is oblong-elliptic, 6-18 cm long, with an asymmetric base, an emarginate or rounded apex, and conspicuous parallel-pinnate venation. Young foliage flushes a striking coppery-red before turning green. Inflorescences are terminal panicles of fragrant whitish flowers with five small petals and ten free stamens. The fruit is a large flattened woody pod 12-25 cm long that splits explosively along both sutures, twisting and ejecting the lens-shaped seeds. Isoberlinia doka is a defining species of "doka woodland" on well-drained sandy soils.