Wiktionary
n. 1 A large, spreading tree of the ''Euphorbiaceae'', found on wooded hills and among sand dunes, with distinctive hand-shaped leaf, whose pale yellow wood resembles balsa. 2 Its egg-shaped, velvety fruit, having a thin layer of edible flesh surrounding a highly nutritious nut.
Wikipedia
The mongongo tree (Schinziophyton rautanenii) is a member of the family Euphorbiaceae and of the monotypic genus Schinziophyton. A large, spreading tree, the mongongo reaches 15–20 metres tall. It is found on wooded hills and among sand dunes, and is associated with the Kalahari sand soil-types. The leaves are a distinctive hand-shape, and the pale yellow wood is similar in characteristics to balsa, being both lightweight and strong. The yellowish flowers occur in slender, loose sprays.
Usage examples of "mongongo".
From the branches above them a flight of plump green pigeons exploded into noisy flight, and Centaine realized that the valley was alive with birds and small animals come in the dawn to feast on the fruits of the mongongo groves.
H'ani led her into the grove, and they filled their satchels with the fallen fruit of the mongongo trees.
H'ani must have already chosen the place, for she led Centaine directly to a hollow a short way beyond the camp, but screened from it by the mongongo grove.
She spread the gemsbok skin at the base of a large mongongo tree and settled Centaine upon it.
Then H'ani took the child, handling him with familiar expertise, and she tied off the umbilical cord with the soft white inner bark threads of the mongongo tree, before severing it with a quick slash of her bone knife.
The stone was not large, only the size of one of the ripe mongongo fruit - but it was a symmetrical many-sided crystal, perfect for the centrepiece of the necklace.
It thumped against her breastbone as she wielded her digging stick or stooped to gather the mongongo nuts.
The mongongo tree flowered and fruited again, and one day Shasa lifted himself on to hands and knees and to the delight of all set off on his first explorations of the valley.
As always, the transit of the cavern was nerve-racking but swift, and as they filed out into the secret valley, the moon was silvering the mongongo grove and polishing the high surrounding cliffs.
Even with the four labourers and Swart Hendrick to help her, Centaine had to make every measurement herself and write out each claim notice and attach it to the claim posts of Mongongo timber that they set up ahead of her.
All that day as Centaine sat in the shade of the mongongo, she caught glimpses of his lanky figure striding here and there, chin against his chest, pausing every few minutes to pick up a chip of rock or a handful of soil, and then disappearing again amongst the trees and the rocks.
If you wish to visit us again, Kwi called after them, we will be at the mongongo tree grove near O'chee Pan until the rains break.
Take truck to northern tip of O'chee Pan and locate Bushman encampment in mongongo forest.
To make me keep my distance they hurled figs, mongongo nuts, berries, tubers, clumps of dirt, and stones.