402 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



In habit it usually takes more of the shape and form of 

 a shrub rather than a tree, though where it is protected a longish 

 main leader grows up, but even this droops. It rarely 

 attains a height of more than 15 feet and a girth at the base 

 of about 18 inches. The leaf is large and oval, opposite, and 

 rather leathery to the touch. The fruit is not unlike a peach, 

 except that its surface is not smooth, but is pitted in small 

 depressions, giving it a more special peach colour. The flesh is 

 very woody and tough, interspersed with small seeds not unlike 

 those of the strawberry. When ripe the birds eat them. The 

 roots are of a yellowish-brown, especially when the cortex is 

 rubbed. The slash is yellow. The leaf is very shiny. 



It does not really reach timber size, but the sapwood is a 

 light yellow and the heartwood a darker yellow. 



It is a moderately quick growing, light-demanding, soil- 

 protecting and soil-improving tree. Natural regeneration is 

 poor, but reproduction by root suckers and stool shoots is very 

 strong. It is very fire-resisting, and recovers easily from any 

 effects of fire. 



Native Use. — In cases of scarcity of building-timber, occa- 

 sionally short sections are obtained from it for hut-building. It 

 is, however, usually too short. The roots are used medicinally 

 in the following way : roots about a \ inch in diameter 

 and upM^ards to f inch are thoroughly washed in water 

 and cut up into sections of about 4 inches long and boiled in 

 water. The solution thus made is strained off, and is drunk 

 either hot or cold in fairly large doses for the relief of venereal 

 disease (G.) in its earlier stages. Most of the natives affirm 

 that it gives great relief, though they acknowledge that it 

 does not prove a cure for it. 

 Sarcocephalus esculentus. Weatherboard Wood. Opepe (Yoruba) ; 

 Obiache (Benin) ; Awessu (Jekri). 



It is found in the Abeokuta, Ondo, Benin and Calabar 

 provinces of Nigeria, where in certain localities it is very 

 prevalent. 



It is a large tree of the evergreen forest zone, which attains 

 a girth of 12 feet and a corresponding bole length. The bark 

 is slightly rough and scaly, but in an even manner. It bears 

 a large edible fruit 2 inches in diameter. The fruit is not un- 

 like a peach in shape and colour, but with a rougher and softer 

 skin. It is very closely and finely pitted with tiny holes in 

 its surface. Inside, the flesh is pinkish- white. It is commonly 

 seen at the edge of freshwater swamps in the Benin, If on and 

 Ondo districts. It likes soil with good drainage, but it may 

 be very moist. 



