Cola verticillata

(Schum. et Thonn.) Stapf ex A. Chev.

Slippery kola

Malvaceae Edible: Seeds 1 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Source: Wikipedia

Cola verticillata is a species of tree in the genus Cola, of the family Malvaceae, native to the forests of tropical Africa. Common names include owe cola, slippery cola and mucilage cola. It was first described by the Danish botanist Peter Thonning as Sterculia verticillata, and was given its current name of Cola verticillata by the Austrian botanist Otto Stapf and the French botanist Auguste Chevalier.

Description

A medium sized tree. It grows up to 24 m high. The trunk is straight. They bark is brown with cracks along it. The small branches have a waxy coating. The leaves are simple and usually in rings of 4. The leaves are 10-25 cm long and 3.5-9 cm wide. They are sword shaped and taper to the tip. They are leathery and dark green. The flowers are arranged in rings. They are in the axils of leaves and are hairy. The fruit are made up of 5 cells. These are nearly at right angles to the stem. They are green or brown and shiny. They are 20 cm long by 9 cm wide. There are 6-8 seeds. These are covered with a white skin.

Edible Uses

The timber of Cola verticillata is hard and white; in southern Nigeria it is used to make fetish images. The trees are sometimes planted in villages, the nuts, which contain significant amounts of caffeine, being gathered from the wild when ripe and used to make a drink.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It grows in lowland rain-forest near streams. In Nigeria it is recorded at 1,440 m above sea level.

Where It Grows

Africa, Benin, Cabinda, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Togo, West Africa,

Notes

Also put in the family Sterculiaceae.

Also Known As

Abidoo, Goh, Owé cola, Owe kola, Senbiel, Woba

References (16)

Brown, D., 2002, The Royal Horticultural Society encyclopedia of Herbs and their uses. DK Books. p 175
Burkill, H. M., 1985, The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vol. 5. Kew.
Chapman, J. D. & Chapman, H. M., 2001, The Forest Flora of Taraba and Andamawa States, Nigeria. WWF & University of Canterbury. p 205
Hawthorne, W.& Marshall, C., 2013, Nimba Western Area Iron Ore Concentrator Mining Project Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. AcelorMittel Liberia. p 461
Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 33

Show all 16 references

Keay, R.W.J., 1989, Trees of Nigeria. Clarendon Press, Oxford. p 135
Les Vegetaux utiles de l'Afrique tropicale francais 6:136, t. 7, fig. 3. 1911 (Kolatiers)
Menninger, E.A., 1977, Edible Nuts of the World. Horticultural Books. Florida p 41
Purseglove, J.W., 1968, Tropical Crops Dicotyledons, Longmans. p
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN). [Online Database] National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Available: www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/econ.pl (10 April 2000)
van Wyk, B., 2005, Food Plants of the World. An illustrated guide. Timber press. p 149
Vickery, M.L. and Vickery, B., 1979, Plant Products of Tropical Africa, Macmillan. p 90
Vivien, J., & Faure, J.J., 1996, Fruitiers Sauvages d'Afrique. Especes du Cameroun. CTA p 346
Wickens, G.E., 1995, Edible Nuts. FAO Non-wood forest products. FAO, Rome. p155
Wiersema, J. H. & Leon, B., 2013, World Economic Plants. A Standard Reference CRC Press. 2nd Ed. p 190
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew