Tetrapleura tetraptera
Species of legume
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tetrapleura tetraptera, also known as prekese, aidan fruit, or four corner spice[1], is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae native to Western Africa and Central Africa.[2] The plant is called prekese (or, more correctly, prɛkɛsɛ aka soup perfume) in the Akan language of Ghana.[3] It is also called uhio (uhiokrihio) in the Igbo language of Nigeria.
| Tetrapleura tetraptera | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
| Genus: | Tetrapleura |
| Species: | T. tetraptera |
| Binomial name | |
| Tetrapleura tetraptera (Schumach. & Thonn.) Taub. | |
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The tree has many uses. Its sweet fragrance is valued, and its fruit is used to spice dishes, such as Banga soup.[4][5] It is mostly used to prepare palm nut soup and other types of soups called light soup because of its aroma.
Description
A medium grey barked deciduous tree that can grow up to 25 m tall, the trunk is slender and straight while the slash is reddish and scented.[6] Its leaves are bipinnately compound, up to 5 - 9 of mostly opposite pinnae and each pinnae having 12 - 24 leaflets. Leaflets alternate, can reach 2 cm long and 1 cm wide, they are narrowly oblong to elliptic in shape and rounded at both the apex and the base.[6] The inflorescence is arranged in spike-like axillary racemes with the flowers pinkish cream to orange brown in color.[6] Its fruit is a shiny dark brown to almost black pod with four wing like ridges, two hard and woody ridges and two rather soft ridges, the latter two has an edible pulp.[6] The fruit typically hangs at the edges of branches and[7] inside the pod are tiny rattling black to brownish seeds.
Distribution
Native to Tropical Africa, from Senegal in West Africa to Sudan and Kenya and southwards to Tanzania and Angola.[8]
