Annickia affinis (Exell) Versteegh & Sosef

Tree, up to (2.5-)30 m tall; bole cylindrical; bark smooth, grey-brown, striate, mottled grey, silver and black; young shoots glabrescent, green, older ones black; internodes 0.2-3.9 cm long. Indumentum of single, bifid and fasciculate hairs, 0.1-0.6 mm long. Leaves: petiole 2-8 mm long, sparsely pubescent; leaf-blade narrowly elliptic to obovate, 3.5-26 cm long, 1.5-9.5 cm wide, subcoriaceous to coriaceous, base narrowly cuneate to shortly attenuate, apex gradually acuminate to acute; lateral nerves 8-13 pairs; upper surface glossy dark green when fresh, in sicco grey-brown to almost black, midrib with a few hairs of 0.1 mm long at the base; lower surface dull, pale green when fresh, in sicco greenish brown to deep brown, pubescent, with simple or bifid hairs directed towards the leaf apex, hairs short, 0.1 mm long, sometimes alternating with longer hairs of 0.2-0.6 mm long. Flowers with a strong apple scent; pedicel 0.7-1.4 cm long (strongly thickening and stretching to 2.7 cm in fruit), tomentose; bracteoles ovate, acuminate, 4 mm long, 2 mm wide, tomentose outside, inside glabrous, caducous; sepals triangular, acute, 7 mm long, 4 mm wide, outside tomentose, inside glabrous, caducous; petals ovate, acute, 1.5-3.3 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm wide, outside puberulous, greenish yellow when fresh, inside greenish yellow when fresh, turning brown with age, with a thin line of indumentum on the inversely Y-shaped ridge; stamens 110-175, 2-3.5 mm long, when fresh whitish at the base, pale dull pinkish towards the apex; carpels 35-70, 3-4 mm long, pubescent, hairs 0.1-0.3 mm long. Fruit: stipes 1.0-4.0 cm long, pale green, turning red at maturity, with a few hairs; monocarps 3-34, ellipsoid to obovoid, sometimes mucronate, 2.0-3.5 cm long, 0.9-1.4 cm in diameter, fleshy, green turning deep purple to almost black at maturity, brown to black when dry, sparsely puberulous and glabrescent.