''Erythrophleum suaveolens'', also known as the ordeal tree, is a species of flowering plant that can be found across most of tropical Africa. The species are in height, and have a rough and blackish bark. The plants leaves have 2–3 pairs of
pinnae, which carry 7–13
leaflets. The leaflets are , are green coloured and
ovate. The flowers have fluffy spikes, and are creamy-yellow coloured. Fruits are hard, the pod of which is flat.
The bark of the tree has been used in
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
to make a toxic concoction used for a form of
trial by ordeal called "
sassywood".
This use has given it the common name of the "Ordeal Tree".
References
External links
suaveolens
Plants described in 1832
Flora of Africa
{{Caesalpinioideae-stub