Cola verticillata
{{short description|Species of plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image =
|genus = Cola
|species = verticillata
|authority = (Thonn.) Stapf ex A.Chev.
|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.{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:822811-1 |title=Cola verticillata (Thonn.) Stapf ex A.Chev. |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Kew |accessdate=28 October 2021}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.earth.com/plant-encyclopedia/angiosperms/malvaceae/cola-verticillata/en/ |title=Cola verticillata (Thonn.) Stapf ex A.Chev. |publisher=Earth.com |accessdate=28 October 2021}}
Description
Cola verticillata is a medium-sized tree, up to {{convert|25|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} in height, the lower third of the trunk being devoid of branches. 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.{{cite book |title=Cola verticillata (Thonn.) Stapf ex A.Chev. (Sterculiaceae) — Owe Cola, Slippery Cola, Mucilage Cola |last=Duke |first=James A. |year=2001 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=9780203752685 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Va3ED4zwXGIC&dq=%22mucilage+cola%22&pg=PA113 }}
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. It grows in lowland forests, at altitudes of up to {{convert|1000|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}, particularly near streams and in swamps.{{cite web |url=http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/details.php?langue=an&id=120950 |title=Cola verticillata (Thonn.) Stapf ex A. Chev. |work=African Plant Database |publisher=CJB |accessdate=31 October 2021}}
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.{{cite web |url=https://weevil.myspecies.info/biology-kola-weevil-balanogastris-kolae-cola-acuminata-and-cola-verticillata |title=The biology of the kola weevil Balanogastris kolae on Cola acuminata and Cola verticillata |author=Daramola, A.M. |year=1981 |publisher=International Weevil Community Website |accessdate=29 October 2021}}