The receptacle is cup-shaped, with the ovary visible inside at the base; this means that as the fruit develops, the remains of the calyx, petals and stamens are at the base of the fruit, whereas, in other genera of the family Combretaceae, they are at the top.

The succulent fruit is some 2 to 3 in (5.1 to 7.6 cm) wide and 2 in (5.1 cm) long, rough, with a sharp apex and a warty appearance; it resembles a gall, and contains a single, large seed with two cotyledons; the fruit is similar in appearance to a kola nut.

[3][4] Strephonema pseudocola is native to the forests of tropical West Africa, its range extending from Sierra Leone through Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana to Cameroon.

[3] It predominantly grows in wet lowland forest, but in Ghana it also grows in upland evergreen forest in the Atewa Range, along with Combretum multinervium, Neolemonniera clitandrifolia, Newtonia duparquetiana and the liana Strychnos icaja.

[5] Strephonema pseudocola is a non-ectomycorrhizal tree, as are Cola verticillata and Oubanguia alata with which it is often associated.