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Plant · P-732
African Walnut
Plukenetia conophora
African Walnut is a fast-growing evergreen vine of humid tropical rainforest, grown for an oil-rich seed usually boiled or roasted and served alongside corn on the cob - eaten raw it turns bitter, in the manner of kola. The pressed seed yields a light golden oil so rich in linolenic acid that it dries faster than linseed oil, making it a traditional ingredient in paint and varnish as well as in cooking. It needs something to climb and shows no tolerance for frost, growing only in the lowland and mid-elevation rainforest of west and central Africa. Boiling the seed too long oxidizes that oil, so slow roasting keeps it in far better condition.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 10–12
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moist
Vertical layer
Vine- Soil pH
- Not yet recorded
- Plant type
- Vine
- Mature height
- 9.8–59.1 ft
- Mature spread
- 16 in
- Plant spacing
- Not yet recorded
- Root type
- Not yet recorded
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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