324 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



the Ondo, Benin, Calabar and Ogoja provinces of Nigeria. 

 It is one of the most common mahoganies of the forest, 

 and reaches the largest girth of any of the African trees. 

 The biggest of all showed a girth of 56 feet, measured 

 above the top of the buttresses, and one which showed 

 437 rings of growth had a girth of 52 feet, measured at 

 20 feet above the ground. This one, too, yielded 15 logs of 

 various sizes. 



The leaves are rather smaller and show the ribs rather 

 more prominently than in E. cylindrica, but the growth, which 

 is in tufts, is similar. It is deciduous for about three weeks 

 in the year, in November, when inconspicuous flowers first 

 appear and then the leaves. The capsule is about 3 inches 

 long and nearly 1 inch in diameter. It is of the usual pen- 

 tagonal shape, and there are five seeds, placed one over the 

 other on each side of the central pentagonal core. The seeds 

 are nearly square in shape, with a rounded back about an eighth 

 of an inch thick. The wings are four times the length of the 

 seed, making each about 2| inches long. The seeds lose their 

 germinative power in about three weeks, and are always 

 attacked by a small boring insect. 



The bole has comparatively slight root spurns, which ter- 

 minate at about a maximum height of 20 feet from the ground. 

 It is very straight, and may attain a height of 90 feet. The 

 stem is, however, much more pitted than that of E. cylindrica. 

 The bark is of a green to grey colour, very reminiscent at 

 times of a beech-tree, especially at a distance. The crown 

 is flatly spherical, being composed of a few very large limbs. 

 The slash is white and brown ; the sapwood is white and the 

 heartwood of a red-brown colour, with a very strong cedar- 

 wood scent when freshly cut. Even when the wood is seasoned 

 and freshly planed, this scent is very noticeable. It saws and 

 splits easily, planes up moderately, and takes nails fairly easily. 

 It is not termite-proof, but the most common attack is 

 by a lymexylon, if the logs are left lying unsquared in the 

 forests. Many figured logs have been obtained from this 

 species of tree. In the younger stages, the sapwood is 

 comparatively wide. Natural regeneration is very good in 

 some places. The tree grows very rapidly indeed. In its youth 

 it stands a certain amount of shade, but later on it is a light- 

 loving tree. It is a soil -protecting and soil-improvhig tree. 

 Isolated trees have been planted and small plantations made 

 in various parts of the country. Planted under proper con- 

 ditions and with favourable seasons, an average growth of 

 6 feet in height may be expected. The young trees are occa- 



