Phenological growth stages of shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa subsp. paradoxa) according to the BBCH scale

The shea tree is among the socio‐economically and environmentally most important plants in the Sudano‐Sahelian region of Africa. Shea butter is internationally valued for use in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and confectionary industries. Scaling and describing phenological growth stages is of great importance in crops management. However, such phenological scale is still lacking for shea tree. To fill this gap, we documented the different growth stages of shea tree by referencing to the Biologische Bundesantalt, Bundessortenamt und Chemische Industrie (BBCH) scale. Eight of the ten principal growth stages (0–9) and 43 secondary growth stages (0–9) were described in shea tree. Among the eight principal stages, four were related to reproductive phenophases: inflorescence emergence stage (5), flowering stage (6), fruit development stage (7), and fruit maturity stage (8). The remaining four principal stages concerned vegetative phenophases and contained: bud development stage (0), leaf development stage (1), shoot development stage (3), and senescence stage (9). Observations of shea tree phenophases depicted asynchronous growth patterns with overlapping secondary growth stages of different principal stages within an individual tree canopy at the same time. The proposed phenological growth scale specific to shea tree but compatible with other crops is a valuable contribution for the implementation of crops management protocols and the standardisation of research between different laboratories. This research paper described for the first time, the different phenological growth stages of shea tree according to the BBCH scale. Eight of the ten principal BBCH scale growth stages namely bud development stage (0), leaf development stage (1), shoot development stage (3), inflorescence emergence stage (5), flowering stage (6), fruit development stage (7), fruit maturity stage (8) and senescence stage (9) were used to described shea tree. This work provide a tool to facilitate exchange of scientific information between researchers across the world and to help in adopting timely orchard management practices such as disease and pest control.