Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
COLA NITIDA
Botanical Name —
Cola nitida
(Vent.) Schott & Endl.
Synonyms —
Cola vera
K. Schum.,
Cola acuminata
(P. Beauv.) Schott & Endl. var.
latifolia
K.
Schum.,
Sterculia nitida
Vent.,
Bichea nitida
( Vent.) Fa r w.
Family —
Malvaceae
Common Names —
Kola nut, bitter kola nut
African Names —
Aowin (Sefwi): awase; Arabic: guro, woro; Fanti: bose; Hausa: goro; Igbo:
oji; Nupe: chigban'bi; Nzima: esele; Twi (Ashanti, Wasaw): bese, bese-pa; Yoruba: obi gbanja
Description —
Cola nitida
is an evergreen tree, usually 9-12 m high, but sometimes growing
up to 20 m, and 1.5 m in diameter. It has narrow buttresses, extending for 1 m in old trees, or absent;
the bole is not always straight and cylindrical. The bark is gray or grayish brown, rough with longi-
tudinal fissures, and there is pinkish-red slash, which darkens to brown on exposure. The leaves are
simple, alternate, petiolate; the petiole is 1.2-10 cm long; the blade is broadly oblong to broadly elliptic
or elliptic-oblanceolate, 10-33 cm long, 5-13 cm wide, apex abruptly and shortly acuminate, base
obtuse or rounded, margins wavy, glabrous, or nearly so; there are leathery, dark-green lateral nerves
(6-10), the lowest arising close to the base and running parallel to the margin, obscure above, promi-
nent below. Inflorescence is axillary, on irregularly branched panicles 5-10 cm long, shorter than
the leaves; flowers are unisexual, appearing May to July and fruiting October to December; they are
5-merous, apetalous. Male flowers have the calyx cup shaped, about 2 cm in diameter, deeply lobed,
and stamens are numerous, in two whorls. Female flowers have a calyx about 5 cm in diameter, with
5 carpels and numerous rudimentary anthers at the base. The various kola species can easily be dif-
ferentiated by their fruits.
C.
nitida
fruits are oblong-ellipsoid follicles 13 cm long, 7 cm in diameter,
and green with a shiny surface, smooth to the touch but knobby with large tubercles. They contain 4-6
(sometimes up to 10) seeds per carpel. The seeds are ovoid or subglobose, 3-3.5 cm long, 2-2.5 cm in
diameter, covered with a white skin, and having only 2 cotyledons, very rarely 3.
9,28,33
Habitat and Distribution —
The plant is native to the lowland forests of Sierra Leone, Liberia,
Ivory Coast, and Ghana. It has been introduced and is cultivated in Nigeria, Mali, and Guinea.
Although it tolerates shade, it thrives better in the open and prefers well-drained soils and an annual
rainfall between 1300 and 1800 mm with temperature of 26°C and 35°C.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
The main use of
kola
nuts is as a stimulant to the nervous system
when chewed and as a restorative. It is an effective appetite suppressant. The kola nuts are used
mainly as a masticulatory agent and as a ritual plant. An infusion of the bark mixed with ginger is
