Eden

Penang Botanic Gardens Plant Collection

Cola nitida Schott & Endl. (MALVACEAE)

Posted at — Nov 13, 2019
Cola, Kola Nut, Bitter Kola

Description

Evergreen tree, 12-20 m tall. Leaves 33 cm long, elliptic. Flowers unisexual, both sexes on the same tree, in clusters from leaf axils. Male flowers 2 cm across, cup-shaped, cream to yellow with reddish brown nectar guide in the middle; female flowers larger, 5 cm across similarly coloured. Fruits 13 cm long, knobbly, green pods, splitting into two equal halves.


Ecology

Lowland rainforest.

Distribution

Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria. Occasionally cultivated in SE Asia.

Uses

Widely used in tropical Africa. Seeds are used as foodstuff, it contains caffeine, theobromine, tannin and kolanin (a heart stimulant).