THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 297 



Ostryoderris impressa. White Oak. Awaw or Erumacie (Yoruba) ; 

 Ori, Ehrurumesi, Erurunuesi, Awaw, (Usshin) (Benin). 



It is a common tree in the Calabar, Ogoja, Benin, Owerri 

 and Abeokuta provinces of Nigeria. To be seen along the 

 Benin-Siluku Road, as also in the Badagry district on the 

 Ayobo-Osuke Road. 



It is a straight-boled, tall tree, with fiattish crown made 

 up of few straight branches with large pinnate leaves, making 

 it appear flatter than it really is. The bark is slightly scaly 

 with fine fissures. The slash is red, exuding a red latex. It 

 reaches a height of 150 feet with a girth of 12 feet. The white, 

 papery, pointed, flat, lozenge-shaped fruit, with a small kidney- 

 shaped seed attached to the centre of the surface of one side, 

 is most typical of the tree. The spurns are almost non-existent, 

 so that the tree can be felled near the ground without trouble. 



The timber is white in the sap and brown-white in the 

 heart wood, but not over-hard, very tough and not splitting 

 easily. It is hard to fell, being very flexible. It planes moder- 

 ately well. The colour darkens with age. 



It is a light-loving tree after the first few years. It grows 

 moderately rapidly. It is a soil-improving and covering tree. 

 Natural regeneration appears poor, though many seeds are 

 usually seen on the ground. Insects appear to eat them rapidly. 

 No plantations have been made with this tree, but experiments 

 would show whether it grows well from seed. 



In 1906 a sample log was exported and sold in the Liverpool 

 market as white oak at 2s. per cubic foot, and it was recom- 

 mended for shipment by the brokers. 



Native Use. — It is used as posts for frames on which yams 



are tied in the Benin farms. In temporary houses, small trees 



are trimmed and squared for the forming of the walls, instead 



of dried mud. 



Dalbergia saxatilis. West African Blackwood (?). Awow (Benin). 



It is a small tree of the mixed deciduous forest of Benin ; 

 it is occasionally used by the natives for hoe and axe handles. 

 Dalbergia sp. West African Blackwood. Emosobegan, Paran 

 (Yoruba). 



Found in the Olokemeji Reserve. 

 Dalbergia sp. North Benin Blackwood. 



This is found near Aroko, in the Onitsha province, and near 

 Ishoka, in the Benin province. It is a small tree with very 

 hard wood. In habit very similar to Ormosia laxiflora, with 

 its orange- coloured bark, which is rougher than O. laxiflora 

 and not so scaly. The wood is used for axe and hoe handles 

 by the natives. 



