NIGERIA 209 



AUbizzia Chevalieri, G. et P. Katsari. 



A tree of 30 to 40 feet, common in the more open savannah forma- 

 tions, especially in the northern districts. It has whitish flower-balls, 

 with long, pinkish stamens and thin, flat pods. The bark is sometimes 

 used for tanning. 



Entada Sudanica, Schweinf. Tawatsa. 



A small tree of the savannah forests and open plains, easily dis- 

 tinguished by the peculiar jointed pods, each embossed seed section 

 falling out and leaving the empty marginal frame. The flowers are 

 in yellowish axillary spikes, generally two or three together. 



Mimosa asperata, Linn. Kaidaji. 



Forms dense thorny thickets fringing the open bush streams. 

 The flowers are in pinkish balls, and the leaves possess the sensitive 

 quality in a mild degree. 



Lophira alata. Banks (Ochnacese). Mijin kade. 



An " African Oak " and one of the most familiar trees of the 

 savannah forests and open country. It is apparently very similar 

 to Lophira procera, the " Red Iron wood " timber tree of the southern 

 forests ; frequently stunted by forest fires. The seeds yield an oil and 

 the bark is medicinal. The flowers are in handsome white panicles, 

 appearing about November or December, and the leaf and habit often 

 give it an appearance resembling the Shea Butter Tree, but the leaf 

 is beautiful and finely veined. An extraordinary fact is the wide- 

 spread belief of pagan tribes in the efficiency of the leaf as a charm. 



Eriodendron orientate, Steud. (Malvaceae). Rimi ; " Silk-cotton Tree." 

 A giant in the evergreen forests, and still a comparative giant in 

 the dry zone. In Northern Hausa towns the only very tall trees are 

 Rimi ; the wood is light and the stems are sometimes hollowed out 

 for canoes : the floss of the seeds is Kapok, and has the usual local 

 uses. Barth says its distribution eastwards stops at 11° East 

 longitude, and that it is therefore absent from Bornu proper. 



Northwards it apparently scarcely extends beyond the Anglo- 

 French boundary. 



Bombax buonopozense, Beauv. Gurjiya ; " Red-flowered Silk-cotton 

 Tree." 

 A member of the evergreen forests, but quite a common tree of the 

 open country and savannah forests, sometimes more or less gregarious, 

 and extending at least beyond the Anglo-French border. It reaches 

 about 40 feet or more in height, with crowded spines on the bark and 

 tulip-like red flowers appearing during the deciduous period, generally 

 after the middle of December and in January. 



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