THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 269 



into it. It does not split well. It is rather a heavy wood 

 and does not float. 



It is a somewhat slow-growing, shade-bearing tree, which 

 thoroughly protects the soil and improves it with its leaf fall. 

 Natural regeneration appears to be none too good. No plan- 

 tations have been made of this tree. 



It has not been felled for local use, but occasionally it has 

 been used for firewood, which is of somewhat high calorific 

 power. The fruit is occasionally useful to temporarily assuage 

 hunger in the forest. 



It was sold as African greenheart at Is. 6d. to Is. 9d. 

 a cubic foot in the Liverpool market in 1906. 



Native Use.— None, and the fruit is not eaten. Elephants 

 eat the fruit. 

 Parinariumpolyandrum (Benth.) (?). Plum. Ako Idofun (Yoruba). 

 Smaller fruit than P. curatellcefolium and very hard; 

 similar flowers, the leaves rough and only slightly grey-green 

 on the under-surface. Stem reddish-brown with long lenticels, 

 leaves larger and longer. 



It is found in the Abeokuta province of Nigeria. 

 Native Use.— The tree is used by the natives for building 

 farmhouses. 

 Parinarium curatellcefolium (Planch.). Abo-Idofun (Yoruba). 



A small tree 10 feet in height and 1 foot in diameter, with 

 large umbelliferous flowers of a white colour. The leaves 

 are rough and shiny on the upper surface, and with more white 

 underneath than the P. polyandrum. 



Native Use.— The fruit is edible, though not usually eaten. 

 No use as firewood. The wood is used for building farm-sheds. 

 Parinarium Gabunense. Mahogany Nut. Abere (Yoruba). 



Found in the Ondo province. 

 Chrysobalanus sp. Niko Nut. Igata (Yoruba). 

 Found at Ebuttemetta. 



Leguminosae (Caesalpineae). 



Cassia Sieberiana. Cassia. Aridan-toro (Yoruba) ; Ezzi, Apagban 

 (Benin). 



It is commonly found in Benin, Ibadan and Abeokuta 

 provinces of Nigeria, more especially in the latter. It is a small 

 tree bearing large and long racemes of yellow flowers in Feb- 

 ruary, making it very reminiscent of the laburnum. The tree 

 is leafless at the time, so that the flowers are all the more 

 conspicuous. The almost rectangular branching habit of this 

 tree, combined with the rather thin twigs, is very typical. It 

 yields a hard, red wood, but the sapwood is yellowish-white. 



