Caesalpinia bonduc

From Wikimanqala

The seeds of Caesalpinia bonduc are maybe the most popular gaming counters used to play mancala games, especially in Africa. The shrub is called "gray nickernuts" or "gray nicker bean" in English, "Molukkenbohne" in German, "canique gris" in French, "komwe" in Swahili and "matojo de playa" in Spanish.

In Barbados they are usually called "horse nickers". Popular ethymology says that, as nickernuts contain some arsenical, they were called "arse nickals", and from here "harse nickers" and "horse nickers".

The plant is established in nearly every tropical shore worldwide including Guam, Hawaii, Florida, the Caribbean and Africa.

The seeds are found usually in pairs, on pods protected by thorns. In fact, the shrub (in Antigua called warri tree) is completely covered with hooked spines.

The usual gray seeds are from Caesalpinia bonduc. The brownish ones, usually found in Antigua, are from a closely related plant called Caesalpinia major.

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Taxonomy

The Caesalpinia genus belongs to the Fabaceae family, and to the Caesalpinioideae subfamily:

Life
- Embryophyta (plants)
  - Angiospermae (flowering plants)
    - Eudicotyledons
      - Order: Fabales
        Family: Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae)
        Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
        Genus: Caesalpinia

The genus Caesalpinia is of controversial size (different publications including between 70 and 165 species).

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Images

A closed pod and one with a hole, so you can see the seed inside	Some mature pods. Note the many thorns on the branches	A woman standing in front of some warri trees	Some green pods
An open unripe Caesalpinia major seed	Leaves of the warri tree	Grey nickernuts from Western Africa	Brown nickernuts from Antigua
Black nickernuts from Kenya

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References

Armstrong, W. P.: (1997) 'A Game Called Island Wari: A Board Game From The Caribbean Islands', in Wayne's Word (3); 6. [Web site] [16 Dec 2008]

Francis, J. K.: (2003) Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb., International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF), Río Piedras, Puerto Rico May 23rd. [Pdf document] [16 Dec 2008]