The Fruits are reddish-brown drupes, about an inch long, the skin covered with a number of small, grey lenticels. They have a reddish, sweet, edible flesh and a large, hard stone. They ripen towards the end of the year and are the readiest means of identification of the species.
Uses.—The fruits are eaten fresh.
The young trees are cut for poles for building (gofa).
PARINARIUM MACROPHYLLUM Sabine.—Gawasa. “Ginger-Bread Plum.” ROSACEAE.
A common tree locally in parts of the more northerly provinces. It is not found distributed evenly through the forests but in numbers over small areas here and there. It is very highly valued by the native for its fresh fruit and protected on farm lands. It is a thick-set, squat tree with a short, heavy stem and wide-spreading, crooked branches forming a round or flat crown. It is from 15-25 feet high, sometimes more, with a girth up to 8 feet. The foliage, owing to the size of the leaves, is dense. It is somewhat similar to its congener, P. curatellaefolium, but the leaves are larger, the flowers heavier and the whole tree on a larger scale. It grows in dry, sandy soils.
The Bark is grey and not rough, covered with small even-sized scales.
The Wood is a light brown colour, frequently with large grey discolorations darkening the colour. In transverse section the rings are obscure bands, the pores are small, few and distributed rather unevenly, single, connected by very faintly marked and poorly developed soft tissue lines. The rays are exceedingly fine and very close together. In vertical section the pores are few and fine and the grain is close. It is a fairly hard wood, sawing well and planing with little picking up to a hard, smooth finish which polishes well. Weight 45 lbs. a cubic foot.
The Leaves are some 5 inches long and 3-4 inches wide on the average, but may be as much as 8 inches long and 5 inches wide, with a stout stalk not above ¼ inch long. They are slightly cordate at the base and broad at the tip with a small point. There are some 15-20 straight veins on each side of the mid-rib, sunken on the upper surface and very prominent on the underneath. The upper surface is a brilliant light green gradually darkening with age, the under side grey. There is a dusty brown covering of hairs on the upper surface, which rubs off readily in the hand and exposes the smooth green surface. The stalk is densely covered with brown hairs.