Club-fruited Cola vs Green Sea Turtle

Cola clavata compared with Chelonia mydas

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Club-fruited Cola	Green Sea Turtle
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Reptilia (Reptiles)
Order	Malvales (Malvales)	Testudines (Turtles & Tortoises)
Family	Malvaceae	Cheloniidae (Sea Turtles)
Genus	Cola	Chelonia (Green Sea Turtles)
Species	Cola clavata	Chelonia mydas

Conservation Status

Club-fruited Cola

EN — Endangered

Green Sea Turtle

EN — Endangered

Population: ~85.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Club-fruited Cola	Green Sea Turtle
Diet	—	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	—	80 years
Average Length	—	1.2 m
Average Weight	—	200.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Club-fruited Cola

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Green Sea Turtle

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 8 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Indonesia, and Mexico. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Club-fruited Cola

Cola clavata is a tropical tree in the family Malvaceae (formerly Sterculiaceae) native to the rainforests of West and Central Africa. The genus Cola comprises approximately 125 species, mostly trees and shrubs distributed across the African continent, and is well known for the caffeine-containing cola nut (C. nitida and C. acuminata) used in traditional ceremonies and as a flavoring. C. clavata is named for its club-shaped fruits, which are follicular. Like other Cola species, it is an understory to mid-canopy tree of lowland and submontane tropical rainforest. The species is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, reflecting ongoing habitat loss due to deforestation for agriculture, logging, and human settlement in its West and Central African range countries. African rainforests harbor exceptional tree diversity, and many cola species have restricted ranges within specific forest blocks. Pollinators of Cola species are poorly understood but likely include small insects attracted to the apetalous flowers that lack petals and instead have colorful sepals. Propagation and ex situ conservation of C. clavata have not been widely pursued, underscoring the importance of protecting its remaining forest habitat.