Entada gigas (L.) Fawc. & Rendle

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Leaf
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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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:
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.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	gigas: Greek for giant
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	Also Widespread in Central and northern South America; Caribbean; West Africa and Central and South Central Africa
Growth form(s):	Liane.
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. Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22 SANBI, Pretoria Page 88.

Other sources of information about Entada gigas:

Our websites:

Flora of Angola: Entada gigas
Flora of Kenya: Entada gigas
Flora of Uganda: Entada gigas
Flora of Zambia: Entada gigas

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Entada gigas
African 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