CHAPTER IX 

 THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 



INDIGENOUS TREES OF NIGERIA 



B. Southern Provinces. 

 Palmae. 



Baphia Hooheriana. Hooker's Palm or the Piassava Palm. Aiko 

 (Yoruba) ; lya (Efik) ; Angor (Benin) ; Ori (Oban, Ekoi). 



It is found ehiefi}^ in the Calabar, Warri, and Ondo provinces 

 of Nigeria, mixed with 11. vinifera at the edges of estuaries 

 and rivers in the evergreen forest zone. 



One of the main differences between this palm and R. vini- 

 fera is that the fruit is much shorter (at the most 1| inches 

 long and | inch in diameter) and more stumpy in shape, coming 

 abruptly to a point at the tip. R. vinifera, on the other hand, 

 is much longer, reaching 2| to 3 inches in length and f inch to an 

 inch in diameter, and it is very elliptical in shape. The bunches 

 of fruit of this palm, R. Hookeriana, are much smaller, rarely 

 exceeding more than a foot in length, and containing 50 to 

 75 nuts, whereas R. vinifera may have bunches 3 feet long, 

 each containing 500 nuts or more. In the stem, too, this palm is 

 smaller, often not reaching more than 6 to 9 inches in diameter, 

 with a total height of 20 feet, whereas R. vinifera will reach 

 over a foot in diameter and a total height of over 60 feet. 

 The natural cleaning of the stem begins much later in this 

 palm, and does not reach anything like the height of that of 

 R. vinifera. In many specimens, in fact, the stem remains 

 alwajT^s more or less covered with the very upward tending 

 branches. In this respect it reminds one a little of R. Ruffia. 

 The leaves, however, are more similar to R. vinifera, but only 

 about half the size, especially in length ; they are not quite so 

 wide, nor are the leaf stalks quite so large. 



The timber is very similar, but more fibrous and of a looser 

 texture than that of R. vinifera. It is a little easier to cut. 

 In the older specimens the foliage still retains its dark 

 green colour compared with the dry, yellowish hue which 

 R. vinifera takes on as it gets older. It is a somewhat slow- 



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