342 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



Phialodiscus sp. 1 . Bush Akee. Awewe, Ishin Oko, Isinko 

 (Yoruba) ; Ukpi nikwi (Benin). 



Identified from a specimen in the Forestry Arboretum, 

 Calabar. 



Chief Characteristics. — The capsule splits into three and 

 allows three black seeds to escape, with small yellow aril round 

 the base. The whole fruit and the individual seeds are much 

 smaller than Blighia sapida, though, as the Benin name in- 

 dicates, this is so similar that it is called the black variety 

 of Ukpi. The fruit is triangular in shape, otherwise very much 

 the same size as African Oak, Oldfieldia Africana. 



Found in the Calabar, Owerri, Benin, Ondo and Abeokuta 

 provinces of Nigeria. 

 Blighia sp. Ishin Oko, Oko Ishin (Yoruba) ; Ukpi nikwi (Benin). 



Distribution. — Ibadan, Abeokuta, Jebu Ode, Benin, Owerri 

 and Calabar provinces of Nigeria. Probably same as 

 Phialodiscus sp. 



Chief Characteristics. — The very insignificant white flower- 

 spikes, hidden away amongst the leaves, but attracting numerous 

 bees in February and March, characterize this variety. It is 

 a medium-sized tree, with light-green foliage, thin, lanceolate 

 leaves, a thin grey bark, smooth and close and oval-shaped 

 crown, through which one cannot see. The capsule is dehiscent, 

 with three black seeds with yellow arils, smaller than Blighia 

 sapida, but otherwise quite similar in shape, except that the 

 capsule is more triangular than that of B. sapida, and shorter 

 also and of a dark brown colour. It is not unlike the fruit 

 of the real African Oak, Oldfieldia Africana, except that this 

 is quite spherical in shape. 



Timber. — White sapwood and light-brown heartwood, 

 which is moderately hard. It does not plane well, and is 

 sometimes cross-grained ; the texture of the wood is fine, but 

 is a little fibrous. It saws easily, but does not split well. The 

 bole being very cylindrical in shape, comparatively long, even- 

 widthed planks can be cut out of it. 



It is a somewhat slow-growing, shade-bearing, soil -protecting 

 and soil-improving tree. Natural regeneration does not appear 

 to be good. It is somewhat exacting as to soil, and does not 

 thrive in a moist sand. It is somewhat fire-resisting. In the 

 dry season a good deal of dew is condensed on the leaves, but 

 not so much as in other genera, such as Anona. 



The timber has not been cut for export, nor has it been sawn 

 up for local use. It deserves, however, further trial as a local 

 building timber. A specimen, from which the tree was deter- 

 mined, stands in the forest region of Calabar. 



Use. — Native implements of various kinds. 



