Ricinodendron rautanenii

Mongongo nut
Schinziophyton rautanenii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily:	Crotonoideae
Tribe:	Ricinodendreae
Genus:	Schinziophyton Hutch. ex Radcl.-Sm.
Species:	S. rautanenii
Binomial name
Schinziophyton rautanenii (Schinz) Radcl.-Sm.
Synonyms
Ricinodendron rautanenii Schinz

Ricinodendron rautanenii Schinz

The mongongo tree, mongongo nut or manketti tree (Schinziophyton rautanenii) is a member of the family Euphorbiaceae and of the monotypic genus Schinziophyton. A large, spreading tree, the mongongo reaches 15–20 metres tall. It is found on wooded hills and among sand dunes, and is associated with the Kalahari sand soil-types. The leaves are a distinctive hand-shape, and the pale yellow wood is similar in characteristics to balsa, being both lightweight and strong. The yellowish flowers occur in slender, loose sprays.

The fruit are known as mongongo fruit, mongongo nuts, manketti nuts or nongongo. The egg-shaped, velvety fruit ripen and fall between March and May each year, and contain a thin layer of edible flesh around a thick, hard, pitted shell. Inside this shell is a highly nutritious nut.

The mongongo is distributed widely through subtropical southern Africa. There are several distinct belts of distribution, the largest of which reaches from northern Namibia into northern Botswana, south-western Zambia and western Zimbabwe. Another belt is found in eastern Malawi, and yet another in eastern Mozambique.

Mongongo nuts are a staple diet in some areas, most notably among the San bushmen of northern Botswana and Namibia. Archaeological evidence has shown that they have been consumed by the San communities for over 7,000 years. Their popularity stems in part from their flavour, and in part from the fact that they store well, and remain edible for much of the year.

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Wikipedia