Shrubs

The coastal thicket and grassland zone extends from Takoradi eastwards along the coast (except for the strand and mangrove zone) in a belt widening inland until the lower west bank of the river Volta is reached. It coincides with an area of low rainfall (annual average of about 850 mm). In the west, from Sekondi to Winneba, the vegetation is predominantly dense thicket, 3.5 to 6 m high, with taller scattered trees of Antiaris africana and Sterculia tragacantha. Small patches of grass savanna occur. Shrubs and small trees are Baphia nitida, Dichapetalum flexuosum and Hymenostegia afzelii. This thicket does yield firewood, though in small sizes, for the local population.

Behind Winneba the extant of the grassland increases and from Accra to the Volta the vegetation is predominantly grassland with small clumps of scrub, in certain areas strictly restricted to termite pounds. The characteristic tree of the Accra plains is Elaeophorcia drupifera, Shrubs are Abutilon spp., Allophyllus warneckei, Cassia mimosoides, Fluggea virosa and Grewia carpinifolia. Irrigated farming is relatively widespread in this belt.

On the sandy foreshore, above high water mark, are such shrubs as Baphia nitida, Grewia spp. and Triumfetta rhomboidea.

last updated: Tuesday, January 13, 2004