TY - JOUR AU - Nyarko, G. AU - Mahunu, G.K. AU - Chimsah, F.A. AU - Yidana, J.A. AU - Abubakari, A.H. AU - Abagale, F.K. AU - Quainoo, A. AU - Poudyal, M. PY - 2012/06/14 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Leaf and fruit characteristics of Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) in Northern Ghana JF - Research in Plant Biology JA - RIPB VL - 2 IS - 3 SE - Articles DO - UR - https://updatepublishing.com/journal/index.php/ripb/article/view/2549 SP - AB - Leaf and fruit parameters of<em> Vitellaria paradoxa</em> populations in north-south gradientof the shea belt in the transitional and Guinea Savanna zones of Ghana were comparedduring the fruiting season between April to July, 2011. Leafmorphological traits studied include laminar width, petiole and laminar lengths. Fruitparameters measured include fruit and kernel widths, lengths, weights and pulp weight.Results showed variability for most of the characters determined. The leaves in Paga hadshorter petioles as compared to those of Nyankpala and Kawampe. The Nyankpala<em> V. paradoxa</em> has the smallest laminar width whilst Kawampe has longest leaf laminar ascompared to the rest. Values for fruit and kernel parameters were highest for samples fromPaga, followed by Kawampe and were significantly higher than those from Nyankpala.There were significant positive relationships between fresh fruit weight and both freshkernel weight (P &lt; 0.001; R2 = 0.6925) and dry kernel weight (P &lt; 0.001; R2 = 0.6532) for datapooled from all the three locations, however, the slopes and intercepts varied betweenlocations (P &lt; 0.001). The result from the study provides opportunities and prospects forselection and breeding for <em>V. paradoxa</em> tree improvement in Ghana. ER -