It includes a single species, Anonychium africanum, a tree native to northern Sub-saharan Africa from Mauritania to Uganda and to Saudi Arabia.

All of the other derivatives such as okpeye and okpiye stem from the noun okpehe used by the Idoma and Igala people of present day Benue State of Nigeria.

In the Serer creation myth, it is one of the sacred trees that grew not just first, but also within the primordial swamp on Earth.

Seeds of P. africana are used in Nigeria to prepare daddawa,[3] kpaye,[4] and okpeye,[5] which are fermented products used as food condiments.

The high incidence of detection (20%) of possibly pathogenic B. cereus strains that contained enterotoxin genes indicated that these fermented foods may constitute a potential health risk.