Oncoba  (Oncoba sp. nov.)

Classified as Extinct in the Wild (EW -) under IUCN Red List criteria (2).

This tree is known as 'feewu a wu' by local people and has only recently been recognised as a new species; it is so new to science that it does not yet have a specific name (2). The spiny tree may grow to around 6 metres tall; it bears small leaves, which have serrated edges with around 15 'teeth' (2). The small white flowers have oval petals and numerous yellowish stamens, which form a dense mass measuring around 3 centimetres in diameter (2). Hard, rounded fruits are produced, which are marked by roughly 9 lines running from tip to tip (2).

Endemic to Mount Oku and the Ijim Ridge of Cameroon in West Africa, this species was thought to persist only in cultivation (2). A recent expedition however, uncovered a single wild tree in the Bali-Ngemba Forest (3). Other cultivated trees are known from a number of compounds belonging to traditional healers; there are thought to be around 10 isolated trees in total (2).

It is thought that this tree was previously found in montane forest at around 1,900 metres above sea level (2).

Very little is known about this new species. The fruits of this tree are used in traditional medicine and the pulp may also be used by local people to make rattles (2).

This tree has lost from the wild probably as a result of the clearance of forests for timber and for the development of agricultural land (2).

It is vital that any surviving trees are recorded and protected. There has been some success with growing trees from seed and the potential for reintroducing this species to the wild needs to be explored (2).