Cola verticillata

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Cola verticillata
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Cola
Species:
C. verticillata
Binomial name
Cola verticillata
Synonyms

Sterculia verticillata Thonn.

Cola verticillata is a species of tree in the genus Cola , of the family Malvaceae, native to the forests of tropical Africa. [1] 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. [2]

Contents

Description

Cola verticillata is a medium-sized tree, up to 25 m (80 ft) in height, the lower third of the trunk being devoid of branches. [3] It has evergreen, oval, glossy leaves arranged in whorls of three or four, and panicles of starlike, cream-coloured flowers with purplish-brown striations growing in the leaf axils. The fruits are similar in appearance to the kola nuts of Cola acuminata but are very bitter, and considered inedible. [4]

Distribution and habitat

Cola verticillata is native to tropical West Central Africa; its range includes Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. [1] It grows in lowland forests, at altitudes of up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft), particularly near streams and in swamps. [3]

Ecology

The kola weevil ( Balanogastris kolae ) damages cultivated kola nuts. The weevil is also attracted to, and successfully breeds on, C. verticillata and Cola nitida ; these widely distributed wild Cola species may maintain populations of weevils even when cultivated species are unavailable locally. [5]

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. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kola nut</span> Fruit of the kola tree

The term kola nut usually refers to the seeds of certain species of plant of the genus Cola, placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae. These cola species are trees native to the tropical rainforests of Africa. Their caffeine-containing seeds are used as flavoring ingredients in beverages applied to various carbonated soft drinks, from which the name cola originates.

<i>Canarium</i> Genus of trees

Canarium is a genus of about 100 species of tropical and subtropical trees, in the family Burseraceae. They grow naturally across tropical Africa, south and southeast Asia, Indochina, Malesia, Australia and western Pacific Islands; including from southern Nigeria east to Madagascar, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and India; from Burma, Malaysia and Thailand through the Malay Peninsula and Vietnam to south China, Taiwan and the Philippines; through Borneo, Indonesia, Timor and New Guinea, through to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Palau.

<i>Sesamum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Sesamum is a leguminous crop and genus of about 20 species in the flowering plant family Pedaliaceae. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with edible seeds. The best-known member of the genus is sesame, Sesamum indicum, the source of sesame seeds. The species are primarily African, with some species occurring in India, Sri Lanka, and China. The origin of S. indicum is uncertain, as it is widely cultivated and naturalized in tropical regions. The genus is closely related to the strictly African genus Ceratotheca and is itself probably African in origin.

<i>Musa</i> (genus) Genus of flowering plants in the banana and plantain family Musaceae

Musa is one of two or three genera in the family Musaceae. The genus includes flowering plants producing edible bananas and plantains. Around 70 species of Musa are known, with a broad variety of uses.

<i>Conocarpus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Conocarpus is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Combretaceae, native to tropical regions of the world. One of the species is a widespread mangrove species, and the other is restricted to a small area around the southern Red Sea coasts, where it grows alongside seasonal rivers.

<i>Garcinia kola</i> Species of tree

Garcinia kola (bitter kola is a species of flowering plant belonging to the Mangosteen genus Garcinia of the family Clusiaceae. It is found in Benin, Cameroon, The Gambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Mali, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

<i>Cola acuminata</i> Species of plant

Cola acuminata is a species in the genus Cola, of the family Malvaceae, native to tropical Africa. It is generally known for its fruit, the kola nut, originally used to impart the cola flavor in manufactured beverages, such as Coca-Cola.

<i>Cola</i> (plant) Genus of plants

Cola is a genus of trees native to the tropical forests of Africa, classified in the family Malvaceae, subfamily Sterculioideae. Species in this genus are sometimes referred to as kola tree or kola nut for the caffeine-containing fruit produced by the trees that is often used as a flavoring ingredient in beverages. The genus was thought to be closely related to the South American genus Theobroma, or cocoa, but the latter is now placed in a different subfamily. They are evergreen trees, growing up to 20 m tall, with glossy ovoid leaves up to 30 cm long and star-shaped fruit.

<i>Picralima</i> Genus of flowering plants

Picralima is a plant genus in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1896. It contains only one known species, Picralima nitida, native to tropical Africa.

<i>Callichilia</i> Genus of plants

Callichilia is a genus of plant in the family Apocynaceae, native to tropical Africa.

<i>Pleiocarpa</i> Genus of flowering plants

Pleiocarpa is a genus of plant in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1876. It is native to tropical Africa from Senegal to Tanzania and south to Zimbabwe. As of August 2013 the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognises 6 species:

  1. Pleiocarpa bicarpellataStapf - Cabinda, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Zaire, Kenya
  2. Pleiocarpa brevistylaOmino - Gabon
  3. Pleiocarpa muticaBenth. - Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo
  4. Pleiocarpa picralimoides(Pichon) Omino - Cabinda, Republic of Congo, Gabon
  5. Pleiocarpa pycnantha(K.Schum) Stapf - widespread across most of tropical Africa
  6. Pleiocarpa rostrataBenth. - Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon
  1. Pleiocarpa camerunensis(K.Schum. ex Hallier f.) Stapf = Hunteria camerunensisK.Schum. ex Hallier f.
  2. Pleiocarpa hockiiDe Wild. - Acokanthera oppositifolia(Lam.) Codd
  3. Pleiocarpa simii(Stapf) Stapf ex Hutch. & Dalziel = Hunteria simii(Stapf) H.Huber
<i>Voacanga</i> Genus of plants

Voacanga is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae found in Africa, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Australia. As of August 2013 the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognises 13 species:

  1. Voacanga africanaStapf ex Scott-Elliot - tropical W + C + E + S Africa
  2. Voacanga bracteataStapf - tropical W + C Africa
  3. Voacanga caudifloraStapf - tropical W Africa
  4. Voacanga chalotianaPierre ex Stapf - tropical C Africa
  5. Voacanga foetida(Blume) Rolfe -Java, Borneo, Sumatra, Philippines
  6. Voacanga globosa(Blanco) Merr. - Philippines
  7. Voacanga gracilipes(Miq.) Markgr. - Maluku
  8. Voacanga grandifolia(Miq.) Rolfe - Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea, Queensland
  9. Voacanga havilandiiRidl. - Sarawak
  10. Voacanga megacarpaMerr. - Philippines
  11. Voacanga pachycerasLeeuwenb. - Zaïre
  12. Voacanga psilocalyxPierre ex Stapf - Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo
  13. Voacanga thouarsiiRoem. & Schult. Madagascar; widespread from Cape Province to Sudan + Senegal
  1. Voacanga dichotoma = Tabernaemontana pachysiphon
  2. Voacanga plumeriifolia = Tabernaemontana macrocarpa

Orthopichonia is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1953. It was initially given the name Orthandra, but this turned out to be an illegitimate homonym. Orthopichonia is native to Africa.

Vahadenia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1902. It is native to tropical Africa.

<i>Cola nitida</i> Species of flowering plant

Cola nitida is a species of plant belonging to the family Malvaceae.

Donella is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Sapotaceae.

Gambeya is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Sapotaceae.

Strephonema pseudocola is a species of flowering plant in the family Combretaceae. It is a tree found in the forests of tropical West Africa. It was first described from the Ivory Coast.

Balanogastris kolae, the kola weevil, is a species of insect that feeds on kola nuts.

References

  1. 1 2 "Cola verticillata (Thonn.) Stapf ex A.Chev". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  2. ↑ "Cola verticillata (Thonn.) Stapf ex A.Chev". Earth.com. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Cola verticillata (Thonn.) Stapf ex A. Chev". African Plant Database. CJB. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  4. 1 2 Duke, James A. (2001). Cola verticillata (Thonn.) Stapf ex A.Chev. (Sterculiaceae) — Owe Cola, Slippery Cola, Mucilage Cola. CRC Press. ISBN   9780203752685.
  5. ↑ Daramola, A.M. (1981). "The biology of the kola weevil Balanogastris kolae on Cola acuminata and Cola verticillata". International Weevil Community Website. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
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