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Coula edulis
Olacaceae FAMILY

Coula edulis

Coula edulis

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
Growth—

A plant of the hot, humid, lowland tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 25 - 35°c, but can tolerate 20 - 40°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,000 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 800 - 2,500mm[1]. Succeeds in full sun and in partial shade[1]. Shading is beneficial when plants are young[2]. The tree has no special soil requirements[2]. Prefers a well-drained soil[1]. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 6.5, tolerating 4.5 - 7[1]. Fruit is normally borne plentifully in the wild[2].

Propagation

Seed - Because of the hard integument, germination is rather poor and may take up to a year[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Coula+edulis>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  2. [2]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  3. [3]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  4. [4]Nuts. — Howes. F. N. · Faber · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎Rather old but still a masterpiece. Has sections on tropical and temperate plants with edible nuts plus a section on nut plants in Britain. Very readable.
  5. [5]Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics : an Inventory — Martin, F. W.; Campbell, C. W.; Rubertbe, R. M. · U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service · 1987 ↩︎A booklet giving terse details of almost 300 species of edible fruits, plus regional lists of Botanical and Common names for over 2,500 less well-known edible fruits of the tropics.
  6. [6]Tropix 7 — CIRAD · http://tropix.cirad.fr/en ↩︎An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.