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Garcinia kola

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
PLANTAE TRACHEOPHYTA MAGNOLIOPSIDA THEALES GUTTIFERAE

Scientific Name: Garcinia kola
Species Authority: Heckel

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria: Vulnerable A2cd ver 3.1
Year Published: 2004
Assessor/s: Cheek, M.
Reviewer/s: Hilton-Taylor, C. & Pollock, C.M. (Red List Programme Office)
Contributor/s:
Justification:
The previous assessment by W. Hawthorne (Oldfield et al 1998) was presumably made on the basis that it was probably the most important source of chewsticks and that overexploitation had caused population declines. Seedlings were also reported to be uncommon and that the tree was slow-growing. The assessment appears to have been based only on its occurrence in Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo, since these were the only two countries cited under the distribution at that time. The range data has since been updated from the account in the Flora of West Tropical Africa, which shows that it has a much more extensive range. In the S.W. Province of Cameroon, the main use for the species is not as a chew-stick (for which the most important species is Garcinia mannii), but for the comestible-medicinal seeds (Bitter cola), probably harvested sustainably from the fallen fruits. The seeds are marketed extensively by vendors all over at least the southern part of Cameroon. The species is at least occasionally cultivated (M. Cheek pers. obs.). On the basis of these observations in Cameroon, and given the large range of the species, G. kola would not otherwise be assessed as threatened. However, it is perfectly possible that general habitat loss and felling for dental hygiene in the western part of its range is sufficient to justify the maintenance of this rating (it has been updated to the new Criteria).
History:
1998 – Vulnerable (Oldfield et al. 1998)
1998 – Vulnerable

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description: Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo (Kinshasa).
Countries:
Native:
Benin; Cameroon; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Côte d'Ivoire; Gabon; Ghana; Liberia; Sierra Leone
Range Map: Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population Trend: Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology: A widespread tree of evergreen forest.
Systems: Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s): It is probably the most important source of chewsticks. Overexploitation has caused population declines. Seedlings are uncommon and slow-growing.
Citation: Cheek, M. 2004. Garcinia kola. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 18 June 2013.
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