336 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



elm. The leaf is of similar size and shape, the bark peels off 

 in fibrous layers, but is otherwise fissured in lattice-work 

 fashion. For the size of the tree the bark is comparatively 

 thin ; the slash is light-brown, sometimes a whitish-grey. The 

 sapwood is white and the heartwood is dark-brown and very 

 hard. It saws well, but is almost impossible to split, and it 

 will not take nails. It has a short bole of about 20 feet, is 

 deciduous for a few days in the year, but is otherwise a soil- 

 protecting and soil-improving tree. Samples were at one time 

 on the way to be exported, but were sunk by accident, the 

 wood, of course, being much heavier than water. 



The natives occasionally use it for house-building. 

 Excoecaria sp. Orupa (Yoruba). 



It is a small tree, up to 18 inches in girth, with smooth, 

 yellowish-red bark, and has maple-like seeds in pairs joined 

 at the base. The stem gives a greyer impression than that 

 of Ormosia laxiflora, and it is also much smoother. 



Distribution. — It is found in the dry-zone forest of the 

 Ibadan, Abeokuta and Onitsha provinces of Nigeria. 

 Timber. — Not very hard and of a yellowish colour. 

 Native Use. — The bark and roots are used medicinally. It 

 is sold in the Lagos medicine market. 

 Antidesma venosum. Aroro (Yoruba). 



It is a small tree, about 9 feet high. Found in the Oloke- 

 meji Reserve. 

 Antidesma sp. Ogbamaton (Benin). 

 Found in the Benin province. 

 Tra^ia Manniana. Esisi (Yoruba) ; Ogangan (Benin). 



Found in the Ondo and Benin provinces. 

 Microdesmis puberula (Hook.). The Benin Apata Wood. Apata 

 (Yoruba) ; Ehranpata, Esanpata, Omomeran (Benin). 



It is found in the Abeokuta, Ibadan and Benin provinces 

 of Nigeria. 



It is a small tree with hard wood of a brown colour. It 

 reaches about 15 feet high with a girth of about 12 inches. 



On the whole this is a slow-growing, soil-protecting and 

 soil-improving shrub. It serves a useful purpose in the under- 

 growth and is of local value as well. 



Native Use. — The wood is used for making the musical 

 instrument known to the Benin as Apata, a kind of harp- 

 shaped frame made of wire, but much smaller. 

 Microdesmis sp. Essunsun, Ubelluname, Ubellunowe (Benin) ; 

 Njorgora (Oban, Ekoi) ; Akiti (Ibo Owerri). 



It is a common tree of the Benin, Ondo, Ogoja and Calabar 

 provinces of Nigeria. A medium-sized tree of about 6 feet 



