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Vitellaria
Vitellaria paradoxa (formerly Butyrospermum parkii), commonly known as shea tree, shi tree (/ˈʃiː(ə)/, also /ʃeɪ/), or vitellaria, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus Vitellaria, and is indigenous to Africa.
The shea fruit consists of a thin, tart, nutritious pulp that surrounds a relatively large, oil-rich seed from which shea butter is extracted. It is a deciduous tree usually 7–15 m (23–49 ft) tall, but has reached 25 m (82 ft) and a trunk diameter of 2 m (6.6 ft).
The shea tree is a traditional African food plant. It has been said to have potential to improve nutrition, boost food supply in the "annual hungry season", foster rural development, and support sustainable land care.
The tree starts bearing its first fruit when it is 10 to 15 years old; full production is attained when the tree is about 20 to 30 years old. It then produces nuts for up to 200 years.
The fruits resemble large plums 4 to 8 centimetres long weighing between 10 and 57 grams each. These fruits take 4 to 6 months to ripen; the average yield is 15 to 20 kg (33 to 44 lb) of fresh fruit per tree, with optimum yields up to 45 kilograms (99 pounds). Each kilogram of fruit gives approximately 400 grams (14 ounces) of dry seeds. The fruit is edible.
Vitellaria is a monotypic genus, i.e., it has only one species. The species has variously been known botanically as Vitellaria paradoxa, Butyrospermum parkii, and Butyrospermum paradoxum. Many botanical works from the late 19th and much of the 20th centuries used the name Butyrospermum parkii, which is still commonly found in the cosmetics trade. However, Vitellaria paradoxa is the oldest name (published in 1807) and has been generally used in recent decades, as necessitated by the rules of botanical nomenclature; efforts in 1962 to make Butyrospermum the official scientific name for the genus (i.e., to "conserve" the name) were unsuccessful.
The species has two subspecies:
The shea tree grows naturally in the wild in the dry savannah belt from Senegal in the west to Sudan and South Sudan in the east, and onto the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands. It occurs in 19 countries across the African continent, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Guinea. The habitat area extends over more than 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi).
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Vitellaria
Vitellaria paradoxa (formerly Butyrospermum parkii), commonly known as shea tree, shi tree (/ˈʃiː(ə)/, also /ʃeɪ/), or vitellaria, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus Vitellaria, and is indigenous to Africa.
The shea fruit consists of a thin, tart, nutritious pulp that surrounds a relatively large, oil-rich seed from which shea butter is extracted. It is a deciduous tree usually 7–15 m (23–49 ft) tall, but has reached 25 m (82 ft) and a trunk diameter of 2 m (6.6 ft).
The shea tree is a traditional African food plant. It has been said to have potential to improve nutrition, boost food supply in the "annual hungry season", foster rural development, and support sustainable land care.
The tree starts bearing its first fruit when it is 10 to 15 years old; full production is attained when the tree is about 20 to 30 years old. It then produces nuts for up to 200 years.
The fruits resemble large plums 4 to 8 centimetres long weighing between 10 and 57 grams each. These fruits take 4 to 6 months to ripen; the average yield is 15 to 20 kg (33 to 44 lb) of fresh fruit per tree, with optimum yields up to 45 kilograms (99 pounds). Each kilogram of fruit gives approximately 400 grams (14 ounces) of dry seeds. The fruit is edible.
Vitellaria is a monotypic genus, i.e., it has only one species. The species has variously been known botanically as Vitellaria paradoxa, Butyrospermum parkii, and Butyrospermum paradoxum. Many botanical works from the late 19th and much of the 20th centuries used the name Butyrospermum parkii, which is still commonly found in the cosmetics trade. However, Vitellaria paradoxa is the oldest name (published in 1807) and has been generally used in recent decades, as necessitated by the rules of botanical nomenclature; efforts in 1962 to make Butyrospermum the official scientific name for the genus (i.e., to "conserve" the name) were unsuccessful.
The species has two subspecies:
The shea tree grows naturally in the wild in the dry savannah belt from Senegal in the west to Sudan and South Sudan in the east, and onto the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands. It occurs in 19 countries across the African continent, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Guinea. The habitat area extends over more than 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi).
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