314 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



It is a very large tree, reaching a girth of 12 feet and a bole 

 length of about 50 feet, which grows up very readih^ in old farms 

 or clearings in the evergreen forest and lower parts of the 

 mixed forests. It has a large, broad leaf, which is deciduous 

 for about a month in the year. The flower, which is white in 

 colour, is in the form of racemes (?). The bark is green, with 

 grey streaks up and down, and the slash is white with yellow 

 markings ; it smells sweet, too. The fruit is oblong and black, 

 more like a plum. The spurns are very slight. 



The wood is very soft and white all through. It dries 

 without warping, but if not cut properlj^ is liable to be attacked 

 by small borers of the furniture kind. It planes with a smooth 

 surface. It is very light, more so even than Musanga wood. 

 The grain is fine, though such pores as there are, are long. It 

 splits well and adzes well too. It shrinks considerably in 

 drying, but this might be obviated by girdling and drj'ing 

 very gradually in shade Avhen cut green. 



It is a very quick-growing tree, almost as fast as Ricino- 

 dendron. It is a light-lover, and is rather intolerant of shade, 

 except in its youth. It grows best from seed reproduction, 

 as the power from the stool is very slight and soon dies back. 



It was sampled in 1912 at Degema, but has not been ex- 

 ported to Europe. A trial as a wood for making pulpwood seems 

 indicated. It is split up into flat pieces for doors and mantel- 

 pieces, also for making the walls of temporary houses, each 

 piece being set upright to the other, with any round edge on 

 the outside. 



Burseracese. 



Pachylobus edulis. Native Pear (Ohan), Incense Tree, Elemi 

 Gum. Ibagho (Yoruba) ; Onumu (Benin) ; Eben (Efik). 



It is found in all the Southern Provinces of Nigeria, chiefly 

 as a planted tree in the neighbourhood of villages, and on the 

 sides of the roads leading to them, being more prevalent in 

 the Benin and Oban than the other districts. It is a medium- 

 sized tree, reaching a girth of about 7 feet and a height of 

 about 70 feet. 



The gum, which exudes when the tree is cut with a 

 matchet, smells very much like incense when burnt, and is 

 of a white colour. It is alwaj^s planted in the villages, partly 

 for shade, chiefly for food, especially in the Oban country. 



The fruit is first of all a grey, and then a purple colour, 

 and a very cylindrical plum shape, in all about 2| inches long 

 and rather more than 1 inch in diameter. It is very much 

 like turpentine to taste, especiall}^ when not quite ripe, and in 



