404 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



has been cut up for planks. It has also been used for bridge- 

 building and other constructional work, and being one of the most 

 durable, ever wider use is being found for it, quite apart from 

 any likely demands for export. 



Native Use. — It is felled for sawing up into planks and making 

 canoes, and is considered one of the best of all local timbers, 

 except Iroko. 

 Sarcocephalus sambucinus (?). Yellow Wood. Opepe (Yoruba) ; 

 Ebengiku, Obiache (Benin) ; Eben (Jekri). 



It is found in the Ondo, Benin and Warri provinces of 

 Nigeria. 



It is a medium-sized tree of the swamps, both near rivers 

 and near the sea coast — in fact, it will grow in waterlogged 

 places — whereas the Sarcocephalus esculentus, to attain large 

 dimensions, likes drained soil. 



The fruit is only an inch in diameter, but of the same colour 

 as the former. The pitting of the surface is more widely dis- 

 tributed and the pits are shallower. The bark is less scaly, with 

 a very slight roughness or fissured surface. The wood is not 

 so durable as the former, especially in exposed places. On the 

 whole, the leaves are larger than S. esculentus and a little thinner. 



The sapwood is whitish-yellow and the heartwood of a 

 deep yellow colour. It is more fibrous and rather more open- 

 grained than that of S. esculentus. The pores, too, are longer. 

 On the whole, it is easier to work, a little softer, planes well, 

 takes nails, splits well and saws easily. It is doubtful if it 

 is termite-proof. 



Although really a light-loving tree, it can stand more lateral 

 shade than S. esculentus. It is a thoroughly soil -protecting 

 and soil -improving tree, the foliage making a very rich 

 humus. It is much more slow-growing than S. esculentus, 

 though on the whole it will stand closer together, and 

 yet grow well. It sprouts well from the stump. Natural 

 regeneration appears to be good. It is sometimes almost 

 gregarious in habit, and in some places one of the few 

 valuable trees in the swamp region. It is also often one 

 of the few of merchantable size. No plantations have been 

 made with this tree. 



In 1906 samples of this timber were sold in the Liverpool 

 market as cedar, but it was only considered of poor quality. 

 It deserves, however, further trial now. Locally it is occa- 

 sionally sawn up for planks. 



Native Use. — It is sometimes used for making canoes, but 

 it is not liked by the natives, because they say it is not so 

 durable as S. esculentus. 



