THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 371 



typically so. The branches tend to flatten out in old age, 

 though they are slightly pendulous at the tips. The bole 

 reaches a girth of about 10 feet and a height of 50 feet. The 

 light patchy, orange-coloured bark is a most typical feature 

 of this tree. Satinwood is the only one at all similar in 

 this respect, but it is much smoother. 



Timber. — White, with a faint yellow tint ; the pores are much 

 shorter than those of the other Terminalias, such as T. scutifera 

 and Togoensis. The grain on the whole is finer and of closer 

 texture. The timber is somewhat harder than either T. scutifera 

 or T. sp., but not so hard as that of T. Togoensis. It planes 

 well, takes nails, saws easily, but does not split so well. It is 

 attacked by termites, but is durable for interior work. It is 

 somewhat more brittle than T. sp. 



It is a moderately rapid growing, light-demanding tree, with 

 soil-protecting and soil-improving qualities. Natural regenera- 

 tion does not appear to be good. It sprouts, but poorly 

 from the stump, and if at all shaded dies away. It likes 

 a moderately good soil, with a fair amount of moisture and 

 depth. 



The timber has not been cut for export, and only occasionally 

 has it been felled for cutting into planks for local use. It 

 deserves, however, a trial as a local flooring board. The avail- 

 able quantities so far discovered are not large enough to justify 

 its trial as an export wood. 



Utility. — The wood is used for planks and for canoes. It 

 is likely to furnish timber for the home markets. 



Local Use. — It has been used for making canoes, and also 

 for sawing up into planks for house-building. 

 Terminalia scutifera. Shingle Wood. Afara (Yoruba) ; Oaha 

 Egoyn, Egoyn nufwa (Benin). 



It is a common tree in the Calabar, Ogoja, Owerri, Warri, 

 Benin, Ondo and Abeokuta provinces of Nigeria. 



The chief characteristics of this tree are the thin and far 

 up-reaching root flanges and its thin, grey-coloured bark. 

 It attains a height of about 200 feet and a girth of about 

 16 feet. The bole length often exceeds 100 feet. The crown is 

 compressed and flat, with few main branches. It is usually 

 found near water. 



The timber is light-brown to almost yellowish-white, with 

 darker streaks. The sap wood is almost white, but when dry 

 is barely distinguishable from the heartwood, though when 

 freshly cut the heartwood appears drier, and thus shows up 

 against the damper sapwood. The wood is soft and planes 

 easily, though not always giving a smooth surface. It is also 



