Club-fruited Cola vs Lǎohǔ

Cola clavata compared with Panthera tigris

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Club-fruited Cola	Lǎohǔ
Kingdom	Plantae (植物)	Animalia (动物界)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (木兰植物门)	Chordata (脊索动物门)
Class	Magnoliopsida (木兰纲)	Mammalia (哺乳動物)
Order	Malvales (锦葵目)	Carnivora (食肉目)
Family	Malvaceae	Felidae (Cats)
Genus	Cola	Panthera (Big Cats)
Species	Cola clavata	Panthera tigris

Conservation Status

Club-fruited Cola

EN — Endangered

Lǎohǔ

EN — Endangered

Population: ~4.5K

Trend: Increasing ↑

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Club-fruited Cola	Lǎohǔ
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	20 years
Average Length	—	3.0 m
Average Weight	—	220.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Club-fruited Cola

Habitat

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

Lǎohǔ

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 6 distinct biome types spanning the Neotropic and Oceanian realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Ecuador. 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.