Help us save the African violet tree

With its eye-catching flowers and scent, the African violet tree (Securidaca longepedunculata) is found in savanna woodlands across tropical Africa. You can help Kew safeguard this plant for our future by adopting a seed for yourself, or as a gift for £25.

African violet tree (Securidaca longepeduculata) is a slender tree with beautiful flowers and scent moctar )

The African violet tree (Securidaca longepedunculata) is often only a couple of metres high, and its seed pods have a ‘wing’ making them a ‘dorsal samara’ type of seed, much like the seeds of sycamore.

In Mali, the African violet tree is just one of many plants that are important for human welfare. They provide building materials, traditional medicines, animal fodder and human food.

Working with local communities in Mali

The African violet tree (Securidaca longepedunculata) is one of many threatened plant species in Mali. It suffers from uncontrolled harvesting for use in local medicines, as well as periodic droughts and bushfires. Eight plant species are known to be found exclusively in Mali (endemic) and all are considered vulnerable due to increasing threats to their habitats.

For example Acridocarpus monodii is an endangered shrub found only in the rocky cliffs of the Dogon plateau of Badiangara and Douentza, in Central Mali, whilst Gilletiodendron glandulosum, a vulnerable tree species threatened due to habitat loss, is confined to the Kita massif in the south-west region of the country.

The seed pods have a ‘wing’ making them a ‘dorsal samara’ type of seed moctar )

The Millennium Seed B ank Partnership (MSBP) has helped to establish the first National seed bank in Mali – Unite Semences Forestieres et Herbiers. Through our work we are increasing the number of wild plant species growing in plantations across the country and enabling the use of Millennium Seed Bank seed collections by local communities, in particular useful plant species.

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank in West Africa

Many of the vulnerable plant species of West Africa are located in dry zones between the Sahara desert in the north and the remnant tropical humid forests in the south.

The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership is collecting and conserving the seeds of many important, threatened West African wild species.

Seed collections are banked in Burkina Faso, Mali and at Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, at Wakehurst, West Sussex.

The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership is helping countries in West Africa that experience drought and desertification to conserve around 800 important wild plant species, about one quarter of the region's flora.

You can adopt this seed for yourself, or as a gift for £25.

When you Adopt a Seed, you'll receive a personalised certificate, featuring your plant species, as a downloadable PDF document you can print off, and regular updates over the year from the Millennium Seed Bank.

For an additional £2, you can have an Adoption Pack posted (either to you, or direct to a gift recipient) featuring a certificate and a full colour picture of your species (UK only).

Adopt this seed now.