Entada gigas
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Leaf
Riverine fringing forest
Ikelenge District
May 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Leaf
Riverine fringing forest
Ikelenge District
May 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Pod
Riverine fringing forest
Ikelenge District
May 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
Pod
Riverine fringing forest
Ikelenge District
May 2025
Photo: Nick Wightman
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Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)
| Synonyms: |
Entada gigalobium DC. Entada gigas subsp. planoseminata (De Wild.) Baker f. Entada gigas subsp. umbonata (De Wild.) Baker f. Entada planoseminata (De Wild.) G.C.C.Gilbert & Boutique Entada scandens subsp. planoseminata De Wild. Entada scandens subsp. rectocarpa De Wild. Entada scandens subsp. umbonata De Wild. Entada umbonata (De Wild.) G.C.C.Gilbert & Boutique Mimosa gigas L. |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | Local to locally common |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Large liane up to 25 m high, unarmed; young branchlets subglabrous to puberulous or sometimes pubescent. Rhachis of leaves with (1)2 pairs of pinnae, and ending in a forked tendril; leaflets (3)4(5) pairs, 1.8-8 x 0.8-4 cm, elliptic to obovate-elliptic, often asymmetric, emarginate at the obtuse or rounded apex, glabrous above except for the puberulous midrib, glabrous also beneath except near the base of the leaflet and (sometimes) for some pubescence along the midrib. Spike-like racemes arising from the stem c. 3.5 mm above the leaf-axils, solitary, 8-25 cm long, ± pubescent, on a peduncle 1·5-6 cm long; pedicels 1-1.5(2) mm long, slender. Flowers creamy to greenish or yellowish. Calyx 1-1.25 mm long, somewhat puberulous or glabrous, sometimes pubescent. Petals 2.5-3 mm long. Stamen-filaments 3.5-6 mm long. Pods gigantic, 40-120 x 7.5-12 cm, twisted into a single or double lax spiral, with the sides also often twisted; outer layer of pod falling away to expose the thick chartaceous somewhat flexible inner layer. Seeds c. 4-5.5 cm in diameter, hard. |
| Type location: |
Jamaica |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | gigas: Greek for giant |
| Habitat: | Riverine and riparian forest margins |
| Altitude range: (metres) | |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Also Widespread in Central and northern South America; Caribbean; West Africa and Central and South Central Africa |
| FZ divisions: | N,W |
| Zambian distribution (Provinces): | Nw,N |
| Growth form(s): | Liane. |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Literature: |
Brenan, J.P.M. (1970). Mimosoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(1) Page 15. |
Other sources of information about Entada gigas:
External websites:
African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Entada gigasAfrican Plant Database: Entada gigas
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Entada gigas
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Entada gigas
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Entada gigas
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Entada gigas
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Entada gigas
JSTOR Plant Science: Entada gigas
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Entada gigas
Plants of the World Online: Entada gigas
Tropicos: Entada gigas
Wikipedia: Entada gigas