Geno-geno

Lonchocarpus sericeus, commonly known as geno-geno or senegal lilac, is a medium-sized deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae native to tropical West Africa, the Caribbean and northern South America. It typically reaches 8 to 20 meters in height, with a straight trunk and a rounded spreading crown. The alternate leaves are pinnately compound with 7 to 13 oblong leaflets that are silky-pubescent beneath, giving the tree its specific name 'sericeus' (silky). From late dry season into the wet season the tree produces showy pendent racemes of lilac to violet pea-flowers up to 30 centimeters long, attractive to bees and other pollinators. The fruit is a flat brown indehiscent pod 5 to 10 centimeters long containing one to three seeds. The bark and roots contain rotenoids and related flavonoids that are highly toxic to fish and insects. It grows in coastal forest, mangrove edges, gallery forest and disturbed ground throughout its range.