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A medium-sized deciduous tree of the shea family, the East African subspecies of shea, native to the Nile basin parklands of Uganda and South Sudan. It is grown mainly from wild or semi-managed trees, not cultivated commercially, so care is largely a matter of conservation and leaving established trees alone.
Vitellaria paradoxa subsp. nilotica is the East African subspecies of the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa), a member of the family Sapotaceae. It is native to the wild parklands of the Nile basin in Uganda and parts of South Sudan, and is ecologically and chemically distinct from the West African subspecies Vitellaria paradoxa subsp. paradoxa.
The fat extracted from the seeds, commercially known as Nilotica shea butter, is distinguished by its higher oleic acid content, softer texture, and lower melting point compared to West African shea butter. These properties make it particularly valued in cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and food manufacturing applications. The subspecies represents less than five percent of the global shea butter supply and is geographically restricted to the Nile basin; it is not commercially cultivated outside its native range.
The natural range of Vitellaria paradoxa subsp. nilotica is restricted to the Nile basin in Uganda and neighbouring parts of South Sudan. In Uganda, the subspecies occurs primarily in northern regions, particularly in the districts of Gulu, Pader, the Lango sub-region, and the West Nile sub-region. The subspecies grows in the transitional woodland-savannah mosaic — locally called shea parkland — characteristic of the Nile basin at elevations of approximately 600–1,200 m (2,000–3,900 ft). These parklands are semi-natural agroforestry landscapes shaped over centuries by human agricultural activity that selectively preserved and encouraged shea tree growth. In Uganda, Vitellaria trees are protected under national forestry legislation, which prohibits felling. This legal protection is a significant factor in the conservation of the subspecies and in the sustainability of wild-harvest supply chains.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Vitellaria paradoxa subsp. nilotica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
