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10 plants worth knowing

DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo holds the largest share of the world’s second-largest rainforest – the humid equatorial forests of the Congo Basin cover the centre and north of the country, cut through by the mighty Congo River and its tributaries. In the east, along the Albertine Rift, rise the Rwenzori Mountains and the Virunga volcanoes with their high-mountain vegetation, while the south, in Katanga, is dominated by open miombo woodland and savanna. Most of the country is hot and humid all year round.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

  1. Wenge 1

    tree

    Wenge

    Millettia laurentii

    A tree with almost black, striped wood that has travelled from the Congolese forests into designer interiors all over the world.
  2. African oil palm 2

    palm

    African oil palm

    Elaeis guineensis

    Without palm oil there would be no moambe – Congo’s national dish – and in colonial times oil palms built the Unilever empire.
  3. Cassava 3

    crop

    Cassava

    Manihot esculenta

    The DRC is one of the world’s largest cassava producers – people eat both the tubers, as fufu, and the leaves, as pondu.
  4. Afrormosia 4

    tree

    Afrormosia

    Pericopsis elata

    An African “teak” from the forests along the Congo River – so valuable that its trade is controlled under the CITES convention.
  5. Limbali 5

    tree

    Limbali

    Gilbertiodendron dewevrei

    In the Ituri Forest this tree forms dark, almost single-species mbau forests – home to the okapi and the Mbuti pygmies.
  6. Robusta coffee 6

    crop

    Robusta coffee

    Coffea canephora

    Robusta coffee grows wild in the forests of the Congo Basin – its other name, Congo coffee, points straight to the region.
  7. Eru 7

    climber

    Eru

    Gnetum africanum

    Finely shredded fumbwa leaves, stewed with palm oil, peanut butter and fish, make one of Kinshasa’s favourite dishes.
  8. Raffia palm 8

    palm

    Raffia palm

    Raphia laurentii

    The Kuba people of Kasai weave raffia palm fibre into their famous “velvets” – among the most prized textiles in Africa.
  9. White rubber vine 9

    climber

    White rubber vine

    Landolphia owariensis

    The sap of this wild liana was the “red rubber” of the Congo Free State – a symbol of one of the greatest crimes of the colonial era.
  10. Dendrosenecio adnivalis 10

    perennial

    Dendrosenecio adnivalis

    Dendrosenecio adnivalis

    Giant groundsels several metres tall form strange, fairy-tale forests in the alpine zone of the Rwenzori Mountains on the Congo–Uganda border.