296 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



used to any extent for local use. It deserves a further trial 

 both as an export wood and as a wood for local floor- boards. 

 Its qualities are far from properly known. 



Among the natives it is used as firewood. 

 Albizzia sp. Walnut. Ayinre Ayinre, Ayinretta (Yoruba) ; Ikpa- 

 wudu, Owawelugu (Benin). 



It is a large tree, up to 6 feet in girth. It has rather 

 narrower pinnae, but of similar round shape to A. Broumii. 



It is a common tree of the mixed deciduous forests in 

 the Abeokuta, Ibadan, Ondo, Benin, Onitsha, Owerri and 

 Ogoja provinces of Nigeria. 



The root spurns are very small. The bark gets rougher 

 than that of A. Broivnii in old age, the crown is longer and more 

 feathery, and the leaves appear to be more of a silvery green. 



The sapwood is white and the heartwood is of a yellowish- 

 brown colour, tending to become a light brown when exposed 

 to the air. It is comparatively soft ; is not termite-proof. It 

 is easy to work, planing and sawing well, and taking nails 

 easily and splitting fairly well. It is, however, less durable 

 than A. Broivnii or fastigata. When split and dried it is more 

 durable than when cut up in the ordinary way. The wood 

 hardens very considerably on exposure to the sun. 



It is a light-loving, fast-growing tree. It scarcely protects 

 the soil, but the leaf fall enriches it. Natural regeneration 

 appears to be good. It tends to spread with the increase of 

 farms, more especially on the poorer laterite soils. A few 

 plantations have been made with this tree. The volume of 

 produce per acre is less than in the case of A. Brownii, but 

 apparently greater than any of the others. It is less rapidly 

 growing than A. Brownii, but faster than the others. 



The timber has not been used for export, and it is doubtful 

 if it would repay the cost. Locally it has been used for planks, 

 but it is not liked so much as that of A . Brownii or fastigata. 

 By the local people it is used for firewood, and occasionally 

 for building temporary houses. 

 Anglocalyx ramiflorus (Taub). Ekiyawa (Benin). 



It is a large tree, attaining a girth of 8 feet, but the trunk 

 is not over-long in proportion. It is a shade-bearing, soil- 

 protecting and soil -improving tree. The bark is a dark olive- 

 green and smooth. It is found in the Benin province of Nigeria. 

 Natural regeneration appears to be poor. The wood is yellow- 

 ish-brown and floats when quite dry. The timber was valued 

 at nothing in 1906 and stated to be a whitewood in the Liver- 

 pool market. 



Native Use. — None. 



