The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Gambeya africana
Gambeya africana is a tall forest tree of West and Central Africa, grown mainly for its timber and fruit rather than as an ornamental. It is seldom grown in gardens and needs a warm, humid, wet tropical climate.
Gambeya africana is a medium-sized species of tree in the family Sapotaceae. Along with the closely related species Gambeya albida, it is sometimes known as African star apple. Both species have similar leaf indumentum and are widespread in the Lower and Upper Guinea forest mosaic.
Gambeya africana grows in West and Central Africa, from Guinea eastwards to Uganda and southwards to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cabinda. It is commonly found in lowland rainforest vegetation, near rivers.
Latex is obtained from the tree bark and used for birdlime while the wood is often mixed with other African Gambeya species traded in the timber market. The fruit is edible though acidulous, while bark extracts are used in decoctions to improve digestion.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Gambeya africana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
