{"id":1098,"date":"2025-10-02T11:14:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T09:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/hanging-sausages-nature-always-surprises\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T11:14:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T09:14:24","slug":"hanging-sausages-nature-always-surprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/hanging-sausages-nature-always-surprises\/","title":{"rendered":"Hanging sausages? Nature always surprises!"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Marimurtra we have a very special tree: the African Kigelia<\/em><\/strong>, popularly connected with the sausages tree<\/strong> with its spectacular fruits. It is derived from a species native to the savannas and forests of tropical Africa, believed to have originated from rivers and llacs.<\/p>\n

A unique species<\/h3>\n

The African Kigelia<\/em> <\/strong>is the only species of its genus, which is the most unique species. It can reach 20 meters of height<\/strong> and, depending on the climate, it behaves as deciduous or semi-evergreen. In Blanes, our exemplar pateix due to defoliations at any time: it has a partial rest in the winter and, in very dry and hot summers, it may also lose part of the full capacity to stagnate water.<\/p>\n

A spectacular flowering and curious pol\u00b7linitzadors<\/h3>\n

The flowers of the African Kigelia<\/em><\/strong> are grouped in long inflorescences and are large, vermilion and showy. But the most surprising is its pollination system: in Africa they are pollinated above all by frugivorous rats (who feed mainly on fruit), in a phenomenon anomenat chiropterophilia. The flowers open at night, give off an intense scent<\/strong> and offer a lot of nectar, adaptations designed to dare these mammals.<\/p>\n

In Marimurtra, as these ratpenats do not exist, the flowers can be visited (and pol\u00b7linitzades) by large insects such as borinots or harnesses (for example l’Agrius convolvuli<\/em>) and only by opportunistic ocells trying for nectar.<\/p>\n

Some surprising fruits<\/h3>\n

The fruits of African Kigelia<\/em> are authentic giants: they can reach 1 meter long and weigh 10 kg!<\/p>\n

In Africa, these fruits have traditionally been used in popular medicine<\/strong>, in the preparation of fermented beverages (since they are toxic if consumed raw). Furthermore, the whip of this tree, in being very light, has been used in craftsmanship and small canoes.<\/p>\n

The local fauna also plays a role: elephants, giraffes, hippopotamuses, baboons, among other large mammals, feed on fruits (but they are non-toxic in nature) and contribute thereto to disperse the fires.<\/p>\n

The story of our exemplar<\/h3>\n

Our exemplar is one of the few who believe outside Europe. The 2014 will bloom for the first time and, the next, will donate fruit: an exceptional fet that will be able to visit the Garden. From the shores, each new flowering is a small spectacle that reminds us of the uniqueness of this species and the richness of the botanical heritage of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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    In Marimurtra we have a very special tree: the African Kigelia, popularly connected with the sausages tree with its spectacular fruits. It is derived from a species native to the savannas and forests of tropical Africa, believed to have originated from rivers and llacs. A unique species The African Kigelia is the only species of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1098\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}