Cola natalensis
De Wild.
Common cola
MalvaceaeLeaves
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(c) Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan
(c) Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan
iNaturalist · cc-by-sa
(c) Chris Vynbos, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
(c) Chris Vynbos, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves
The leaves are eaten.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows in evergreen forest.
Africa, Central Africa, Congo, East Africa, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Africa,
Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe
How to Identify
A small or medium sized tree. It grows 7-10 m high. The bark is grey. It is smooth and peels in small flakes. The young branches are hairy. The leaves are oval and 6-20 cm long by 1.5-6 cm wide. They are dark green. The leaf tapers to both ends. The leaf stalk is 2,5 cm long. The flowers are in clusters in the axils of leaves. The fruit is made up of 2-4 carpels each 4 cm long by 2.7 cm wide. They are leathery. The surface is rough and there are yellowish hairs.
Notes
Also put in the family Sterculiaceae.
Names & Synonyms
Coshwood, Southern cola
References (2)
- Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 68
- Palgrave, K.C., 1996, Trees of Southern Africa. Struik Publishers. p 599
