On a recent trip to East Africa, I was searching along the savannah for
elephants but thought I was hallucinating when I saw sausages growing on trees.
I looked again, and there they were: luscious-looking links of generous girth
and length, dangling silhouettes of promising goodness hanging off the
branches, gently swinging in the wind.
Kigelia pinnata, or
Kigelia
africana, is used in local brews and for medicinal purposes but not
consumed unless you're bulimic (it's a purgative) or you're wildlife (read:
elephants, giraffes, baboons, et al.). In other words, these sausages aren't
for me, not even in my wildest dream. Then I remembered that God is cruel. He
giveth (the idea), then taketh (the sausage). To create a tree that has giant
sausages that I can't eat is just plain mean.
