Atilade Akanmu Adebisi 121and in Nigeria as a whole, however, Garcinia kola is by far the best recognised.
Most of the productive trees now found within the range of the J4 villages were
left standing when farm plots were cut out of the forest or are transplanted
wildlings or volunteers. In Ijebu Division, Garcinia kola trees are found in
compound or homestead farming systems of relatives of villagers living at the
J4 study site. It is believed that the species was introduced through the cultivation
of wildlings brought home from the Forest Reserve. The quantity and economic
value of seed from Garcinia kola trees make it an important component tree in
compound farming systems in Nigeria, as well as contribute to its conservation
value (Aiyelaagbe et al. 1996).
As a tropical fruit tree species, it is characterised by slow rate of growth
(Ladipo 1995). Factors that have discouraged farmers from growing Garcinia
kola include difficulties encountered in attempting to raise seedlings in nurseries
and the long gestation period before flowering and fruiting. However, many of
the germination difficulties have been overcome by methods developed by Okafor
(1998), and interest is developing to cultivate the tree species in plantations.
With this in mind, Ladipo (1995) has developed projected production figures, as
follows. A mature fruit tree produces 85 to 1,717 fruits, with 208 to 6,112 seeds
annually. Taking the mean of these values at 834 fruits and 2,627 nuts per tree,
he has projected a fruit production of 26 tonnes/ha/annum, with 278 trees/ha
at 6 m x 6 m spacing.
Fruiting in the tree commences in July and ends in October. Fruit harvest
continues intermittently as ripe fruit fall and are then collected for the extraction
of seeds. The fruit is reddish-yellow, about 6.25 cm in diameter, and each fruit
contains two to four brown seeds embedded in orange-coloured pulp (Ladipo
1995; Keay 1989).Photo 1. Garcinia kola (Photo by T.C.H. Sunderland)07garcinia.p65 121 22/12/2004, 11:04