American Journal of Plant Sciences, 2019, 10, 1871-1887 https://www.scirp.org/journal/ajps ISSN Online: 2158-2750 ISSN Print: 2158-2742 DOI: 10.4236/ajps.2019.1010132 Oct. 28, 2019 1871 American Journal of Plant Sciences Morphological Diversity and Distribution of Garcinia kola Heckel (Clusiaceae) in Two Agro-Ecological Areas of Côte d’Ivoire Any Olivier Komenan 1* , Kouamé Kévin Koffi 1 , Ahou Anique Gbotto 2 , Moussa Kone 3 , Doffou Sélastique Akaffou 2 , Kouakou Laurent Kouakou 1 , Kouadio Ignace Kouassi 1 , Bi Irié Arsène Zoro 1 1 Phytotechnical Unit and Genetic Improvement (PUGI), Training and Research Unit (TRU) of Science of Nature, Nangui Abrogoua University, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire 2 Agroforestry Training and Research Unit, Jean Lorougnon Guédé University, Daloa, Côte d’Ivoire 3 Science of Nature Training and Research Unit, Nangui Abrogoua University, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire Abstract The purpose of this study is to determine the morphological diversity and distribution of Garcinia kola Heckel (Clusiaceae) in two preferential agro- ecological growth areas in Côte d’Ivoire, for the sustainable management of the species. Ninety-four (94) trees of G. kola were sampled in Affery (south) and Biankouma (west) and characterized on the basis of 13 quantitative cha- racteristics of the fruit, the general appearance of a plant, leaves and seeds. This study revealed the existence of very significant variability and differences within the trees sampled for most characteristics. Very strong correlations were found among the characteristics of the fruits. On the basis of these cha- racteristics, it emerged that the fruits of the Biankouma area are larger than those of Affery. Ascending hierarchical classification (AHC) structured the trees into three distinct phenotypic groups based on the following discrimi- nating characteristics: fruit height (Hfr), seed mass (Mgr), trunk diameter (Dm), leaf width (largF), Height of first branch (HtF) and width of the petiole (larP). These parameters can be used as a basis for selecting and maintaining the high variability of G. kola. Analysis of the geographical distribution of trees, based on the nearest neighbour model, revealed an aggregate distribu- tion in both areas. Keywords Garcinia kola Heckel, Morphological Variability, Geographical Distribution, Discriminating Characteristics How to cite this paper: Komenan, A.O., Koffi, K.K., Gbotto, A.A., Kone, M., Akaf- fou, D.S., Kouakou, K.L., Kouassi, K.I. and Zoro, B.A. (2019) Morphological Diversity and Distribution of Garcinia kola Heckel (Clusiaceae) in Two Agro-Ecological Areas of Côte d’Ivoire. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 10, 1871-1887. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2019.1010132 Received: August 25, 2019 Accepted: October 25, 2019 Published: October 28, 2019 Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access