340 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



handles, and this tree is esteemed by the blacksmith for making 

 charcoal. It is also cut into planks. 

 Anacardia sp. Rat Poison Mango. Akkum (Yoruba) ; Pweku 

 Pweku, Azemome (Benin), 



The Benin native name means literally " Rat-kill, rat-kill," 

 but I have never been able to discover exactly how the 

 poison is used. It is rather a rare tree of the Benin forest 

 of the Benin province. It reaches a height of about 80 feet 

 and a girth of 9 feet. It bears a large fruit about the size 

 and shape of a good mango. This is certainly one of the best 

 fruits of the native trees. It has a much sweeter scent than 

 that of the mango, and the taste is also much sweeter. 

 From experiments made it is not poisonous to chickens, goats 

 nor sheep, but none of them, except the chickens, took it 

 at all willingly. The fruit is said to be very poisonous to 

 man, but its delicious flavour tempts the tasting of it. Cer- 

 tainly, in very small quantities it is not poisonous, and it 

 would be interesting to know in what quantities it is so. The 

 slash is yellowish- white. The sap wood is white and the heart- 

 wood of a dull brown colour. It is a hard and heavy wood. 

 It saws with difficulty. It is a shade-bearing and soil- 

 protecting tree. The natural reproduction appears to be poor. 



The timber has not been used locally, nor has it been sampled 

 for export. 



Celastraceae. 



Gymnosporia Senegalensis. Shepolo-hun (Yoruba). 



It is found in the Olokemeji Reserve of the Abeokuta 

 province of Nigeria. 



Icacinacese. 



Pyrenacantha sp. nov. Abara (Yoruba). 



It is found in the Epe Colony of Lagos, Nigeria. 



Sapindaceae. 



Lecaniodiscus cupanoides. Akika. Aka-Ishin (Yoruba) ; Utan-tan 

 (Benin). 



It is found in the Abeokuta, Ibadan, Ondo, Warri, Ogoja 

 and Calabar provinces of Nigeria, It is a small, shrub-like 

 tree, reaching a girth of about 1 foot and a height of 15 feet. 

 The leaves are very small, the timber extremely hard and 

 cross-grained. The wood is used by the natives for rafters, 

 hoe-handles and sometimes mortar-pestles ; the root is said 

 to have medicinal properties. 



