''Coula'' is a monotypic genus of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s native to tropical

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, containing the sole species ''

Coula edulis ''Coula edulis'' is a tree in the genus ''Coula'', native to tropical western Africa from Sierra Leone to Angola. It is plentiful in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. It prefers tropical regions and is tolerant of light ...

Baill. Henri Ernest Baillon was a French botanist and physician. He was born in Calais on 30 November 1827 and died in Paris on 19 July 1895. Baillon spent his professional life as a professor of natural history, and he published numerous works on ...

Currently placed in the family

Olacaceae Olacaceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Santalales. They are woody plants, native throughout the tropical regions of the world. , the Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscription of the family varies; some sources ...

, recent genetic evidence suggests this family is paraphyletic, and that ''Coula'' and related genera should be transferred to a new family Strombosiaceae.

References

Olacaceae Santalales genera Taxa named by Henri Ernest Baillon {{Santalales-stub