278 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



SilvicuUural Characteristics. — It bears a good deal of shade. 

 It reproduces almost every year plentiful mature seed ; grows 

 fast, but not so rapidl}' as the cotton-tree, Ricinodendron 

 and others. It is sometimes distinctly gregarious, as, for in- 

 stance, south-west of Benin City. 



European Use. — It has not been exported, but the P.W.D. 

 have used it for verandah-posts and planks. It has been much 

 admired for the good colour of the wood and the streaky grain. 

 Native Use. — By the Benin people it is not considered a 

 good wood, but the gum is sometimes used. 

 Daniellia ogea. Gum Copal. Ogea (Yoruba) ; Ogea (Benin) ; 

 Udeni (Ibo, Owerri) ; Mpanju, Ikpanya, Akpanya (Efik). Also 

 known as D. oblonga and Cyanothyrsus ogea, but now called 

 D. ogea. 



This tree is found growing in the heavy-rain intermediary 

 forest of Benin, Ondo country and Mamu Reserve. It is a very 

 fine tree with straight rounded bole, often reaching a height 

 of 120 feet before the first branch. The bark is light grey 

 and slightly ringed. The flowers blue and not very noticeable. 

 Timber. — Of no commercial value, as it is soft and rots 

 quickly. 



Uses. — A good gum copal is obtained from it, the best in 

 the ground, after the tree has rotted. It is used for varnish 

 making ; worth 30s. to 60s. a hundredweight. 

 Daniellia Fosteri. Gum Copal. Oguja or Ogea (Yoruba). 



Found near Olokemeji and Ijebu-Ode. It yields a third- 

 quality resin according to Holland in The Useful Plants of 

 Nigeria. 

 Daniellia Punchii (Kew). Gum Copal. Ajia (Yoruba). 

 Daniellia caudata. Benin Gum Copal. Mogbara, Ashuwole (Yoru- 

 ba) ; Ogea (Benin) ; Agbara (Ikale.) 



It is found in the Ondo, Benin and Ogoja provinces of 

 Nigeria. The bole is the straightest and most cylindrical of 

 any of the African forest trees. It often attains a height 

 of over 100 feet before the first branches are reached. The 

 cylindrical shape is further enhanced by the few quite concentric 

 rings on the bark, horizontally arranged round the trunk of 

 the tree. The barii is otherwise quite smooth and of a silvery- 

 green or light-green colour ; for the size of the tree it is very 

 thin, and the tree may reach a girth of 25 feet, and the bark 

 then is usually only | to f inch thick. The slash is yellowish- 

 white ; the sapwood is w^hite and scarcely distinguishable from 

 the heartwood, which gradually takes a pinkish tinge when 

 it is dry. The flowers are blue and not unlike those of the 

 fuchsia, and the tree is easily seen at the end of the dry season 



