256 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



the witches, who are supposed to hold their court in the Iroko 

 tree and try to catch one of the sons of the chief. 

 Treculia Africana (Dene). African Breadfruit. Afon (Yoruba) ; 

 Ije (Benin) ; Ijeni (fruit). 



This tree is usually found near the edge of the villages of 

 the Calabar, Benin, Ondo and Abeokuta provinces of Nigeria. 



It grows to a large size, with a bole length of 20 feet and 

 a girth of 9 feet, but it is usually a rather open-crowned, 

 spreading tree. For its size the foliage is not over-dense. 

 The leaves are single and roughly lanceolate, with a dark-green 

 and rather shiny upper surface. The most conspicuous feature 

 of this tree is the huge green, perfectly spherical-shaped fruit. 

 Immature fruits of all sizes, from a cricket-ball upwards to 

 a size of 18 inches in diameter, are seen growing close against 

 the stem of the trunk and bigger branches of the tree. Some 

 years ago, one of these ripe fruits fell off a tree at the edge 

 of the Benin market and struck a woman on the shoulder 

 with such force that she died a few days later. The natives 

 subsequently cut the tree down. 



The chief use of the tree is the fruit, which is placed in 

 water to rot so that the seeds can be more easily extracted 

 from the concentrically arranged fibres growing from the centre 

 of the fruit outwards to the periphery. These are subsequently 

 cooked and eaten, often being beaten up in a soup. From 

 the outside the fruit looks as if it were made up of thousands 

 of little green fibres closely packed together from the centre 

 of the fruit, with the ends sticking out on the surface, thus 

 giving it a rough feeling to the touch and making it appear 

 as if it were full of holes. 



The junction of a branch with the stem shows a large 

 swelling all round the base of the branch, which thins out to 

 its regular size about 6 to 9 inches away from the trunk. 



The tree is comparatively slow-growing, but of a soil- 

 protecting and light-loving nature. In the dry season, great 

 quantities of dew condense on this tree, so that underneath 

 the soil is kept moist. Probably more dew falls on this tree 

 than Myrianthus arbor eus, which shows a similar feature. 



Thus far the wood has not been used for any purpose. 

 Treculia sp. Small-fruited .(\frican Breadfruit. Izenagan (Benin). 



Found in the Benin province. 

 Morus sp. Aye (Yoruba). 



It is found in the Olokemeji Reserve of the Abeokuta 

 province in Nigeria. 

 Myrianthus arbor eus. Shapo Obibere (Yoruba) ; Ihege (Benin). 



It is a small to medium-sized tree, with short stem rarely 



