THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 317 



the wood for making canoes, chiefly owing to its lightness 

 and elasticity. 

 Canarium sp. Rough-barked Canarium. Ekugbi, Ekugbo (Yoru- 

 ba) ; Onuraukyukyu (Benin). 



Chief Characteristics. — A large tree, with larger fissures 

 than C. Schweinfurthii, about 6 inches apart ; the bark is in- 

 clined to scale off in between. The leaves are a little larger, 

 but the gum is very similar and used for similar purposes. 



Distribution. — It was found in the Olokemeji Forest Reserve. 



It is deciduous for about three weeks in the year, chiefly 

 November, but otherwise it is a soil -protecting and soil-im- 

 proving tree. 



The tree has not been felled for export or for local use. 

 Nor do the natives appear to have used it for any purpose. 

 Canarium Mansfeldii. Gaboon Mahogany. 



This species is found on the banks of the Upper Cross River. 

 Canarium sp. Oyife (Yoruba). 



Found in the Yoruba country. 

 Canarium sp., syn. Schweinfurthii. Incense Tree. Anikantuku 

 (Yoruba) ; Onumukyukyu (Benin). 



Found in the Ilaro district and Benin. 



Meliaceas. 



Carapa procera. Scented Mahogany Cedar, Crab Wood, Toulou- 

 couna Oil. Efu lya, Abo-oganwo (Yoruba) ; Ibbegogo (Benin). 



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

 Warri, Benin, Ondo and Abeokuta provinces of Nigeria. 



It is a small tree, growing to a girth of about 6 feet. The 

 pinnae and the whole leaf are both much larger than the 

 mahogany leaf, even including that of grandifoUa. It often 

 grows with a divided bole, two small stems shooting upwards 

 from about 3 feet from the ground. The leaves grow in very 

 distinct tufts on the edge of the branches. The bark is smooth 

 and a light-green colour, with a few vertical uprights when 

 the tree is old. The fruit is a large, roughly round, woody 

 drupe. The covering shell dehisces into eight parts, releasing 

 about twenty hard, brown, round-cornered, almost square 

 nuts. The seeds are eaten by porcupines. It is found in 

 the freshwater swamps in the evergreen forest and in damp 

 places of the mixed deciduous forest. The timber is pink 

 when freshly cut, and the heartwood has the red-brown typical 

 of the Mahogany family. The small size of the timber rather 

 militates against its reaching the high value of mahogany. 



The tree is a shade-bearer in its younger stages of growth, 

 and even when older it still stands a considerable amount of 



