Xylopia quintasii, known as Elo, is an evergreen tree of West and west-central tropical Africa that reaches 20 to 25 metres. It is grown mainly for its timber and local medicine rather than as an ornamental, and it needs warm, humid, wet tropical conditions.
Family
Annonaceae (Annon family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist during growth and avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Deep, well-drained, fertile forest-type soil.
Temperature
Warm tropical conditions; tolerates temperatures above at least 1 °C but is frost-sensitive, so protect from cold.
How easy
Hard
Native range
W. & WC. Trop. Africa
Climate
wet tropical
About
Xylopia quintasii, commonly known as Elo, is a species of evergreen tree, in the family Annonaceae that grows 20-25 metres tall. Xylopia quintasii can tolerate temperatures above at least 1°C. Its leaves are oblanceolate and petiolate. Xylopia quintasii produces six star-shaped flowers. Xylopia quintasii is native to West Africa. It is known as Aghako in Ghana and Mvomba in Cameroon.
Where it grows
Xylopia quintasii is native to west and west-central tropical Africa, ranging from Senegal to Democratic Republic of the Congo. Xylopia quintasii is commonly found in evergreen and deciduous forests and coastal thickets. This species is present in the following countries:
Uses
Xylopia quintasii is not commonly sold on the international market and is usually only used for local purposes. It is sometimes used in Grains of Selim and is smoked. The wood of Xylopia quintasii is used for house building in posts, poles, and planks. It can also have other uses like bowls, plates, weapons, tools, toys, etc. Many parts of Xylopia quintasii are used in traditional medicine. The bark is used to treat illnesses like bronchitis and pneumonia. The inner bark is used to treat swellings. A lotion can be prepared from the bark to treat headaches.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Xylopia quintasii 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.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.