368 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



Rhizophoraceae. 



Weihea sp. (Spreng). Odu (Yoruba). 



This tree is found in tropical West Africa. 

 The flowers have an involucre of two bracteoles. The 

 fruit is fleshy ; seeds with an aril. 



Weihea sp., cf. Africana. Odu (Yoruba) ; Itobo (Ibibio) ; Munon 

 (Efik). 



This tree grows near Lagos. 



Rhizophora racemosa. Red Mangrove or Salt Mangrove. Egba 

 Ibadudu (Jeb. Yoruba) ; Ehrodo, Ibadudu (Benin) ; Odo 

 (Jekri). 



Poga oleosa. Inoi Nut, African Brazil Nut. Iku (Yoruba) ; Inoi 

 (Benin) ; Inoye (Efik) ; Ikoi (Oban) ; Inoi (Ekoi) ; Ekom 

 (Ibo Owerri) ; Imonon (New Calabar). 



It is found in the Benin (?), Owerri, Calabar and Ogoja (?) 

 provinces of Nigeria, in the evergreen zone, both of the level 

 and hill country. On the whole, it is more prevalent as the 

 eastward side of the country is approached. In the forest its 

 presence is usually indicated by the heaps of broken shells 

 left lying near the roots of neighbouring trees, on the path or 

 roadside. The reddish-brown interior and cross-section of 

 the inner covering of the shell is a most typical feature. The 

 nut itself is roughly spherical in shape, with a surface almost 

 evenly covered with little nodules, giving the nut very con- 

 siderable resiliency against cracking. It is nearly half an inch 

 thick, and inside there are two or three kernels. Each of 

 these is a chocolate-brown colour with thick (almost three 

 thirty-seconds to one-eighth of an inch) red-brown shell. Each 

 is about \ inch long and rather more than \ inch thick. This 

 thick shell quite spoils the flavour of the nut, which is sweeter 

 and contains more oil than the Brazil nut. It can, however, 

 be removed with a pen-knife. The trunk of the tree is light- 

 grey, with comparatively thin cortex. It reaches a girth of 

 about 12 feet and a bole length of about 60 feet. It usually 

 forks at about 50 or 60 feet from the ground, and this is one of 

 the typical features of the tree. The crown is rather open, 

 with several main limbs and comparatively few branches. 

 Another place where it is commonly seen, both in the Degema 

 and Calabar districts, is in the old farms, standing as isolated 

 specimens, or standards overshadowing all the secondary 

 growth. It is one of the few trees that are preserved when a 

 fresh clearing is made for a farm. The fruit is the shape of 

 a large greengage, the fleshy part of which soon breaks away, 

 leaving the hard nut inside. The fleshy pericarp is about 

 a quarter of an inch in thickness. 



