Sausage Tree - Really, that's what it is called! Kilgeria - Photo Fun

Have you ever heard of a sausage tree? I hadn't either!

Last week we toured the Edison and Ford Winter Estates

and Gardens in Fort Myers, Florida and saw one of the

strangest looking trees I have ever seen.

It is a South African Sausage Tree,

 so called

 because the

flowers ripen into a fruit

 which looks just like a sausage.

It was a fascinating sight to see,

especially since I was concentrating on photographing some of the pretty flowers in the garden and

looked up to see vines dangling from this odd looking tree.

I apologize - these are not stellar shots. The lighting was terrible for taking pictures and we were rushed to finish our tour before they closed.

From    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kigelia    

Kigelia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae. The genus comprises only one species, Kigelia africana, which occurs throughout tropical Africa.

The weather gods had been temperamental and they closed the gardens at one point, but re-opened them after the rainstorm blew through.

I was really intrigued by this strange species of the plant world!

Of course I wanted to know if you can eat the fruit - here is what

 wikipedia had to say:

In African herbal medicine, the fruit is believed to be a cure for a wide range of ailments, from rheumatism, snakebites, evil spirits, syphilis, and even tornadoes (Watkins 1975).

But, hey, who knew you could make beer from a sausage:)

An alcoholic beverage similar to beer is also made from it. The fresh fruit is poisonous and strongly purgative; fruit are prepared for consumption by drying, roasting or fermentation (Joffe 2003; McBurney 2004).

These blooms ripen into sausage sized fruits.

The sausage tree - Kigelia - is also used in a number of

skin care products.

The tree is widely grown as an ornamental tree in tropical

regions for its decorative flowers and unusual fruit.

You might think twice about planting a tree though:

Planting sites should be selected carefully, as the falling fruit can cause serious injury to people, and damage vehicles parked under the trees - (that is because the sausage like fruit become huge).

Wikipedia has pictures of the sausage like fruit, here.

Because of the aforementioned weather and site conditions ...

several of my photos appeared to be black and white.

I thought the shapes were intriguing ...

..... which prompted me

 to play with color edits in picnik.com

(actually, this is only a color temperature adjustment)

What can I say

 I love color ...

Subtle shades can be fun too!

I could see this as a cool new wallpaper design :)

Wallpaper is making a comeback in interior design.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and information

 about the South African Sausage Tree - Kilgeria!

My next post will be about the absolutely enchanting 

romantic Moonlight Garden

at the Edison Winter Estate Gardens.

Thanks for looking!

All images © 2009 Rose H.

A random shot from the gardens at the Edison Estate

Bougainvillea