GOLD COAST REPORT ON FORESTS. 69 



regards species of economic importance, there are several of them 

 belonging 1 to the open savannah forests the timbers of which are 

 of good quality and well suited for local use if not for export. 

 Even for the latter purpose species such as the " dry zone " rnaho- 

 pany (Khaya senegalensis), the Opapao (Afzelia africana), and 

 the " dry zone" cedar (Pseudocedrela Kotschyi), furnish woods 

 that are well suited to the home markets. 



On the borders of the mixed, deciduous forest belt, where the 

 supply of moisture in general is not so poor, the savannah forma- 

 tions are confined to outcrops of laterite rock. It was on a succes- 

 sion of such outcrops near the village of Asare that we first came 

 across the typical vegetation of the Hinterland which, as I am 

 informed by my friend, Monsieur A. Chevalier, who possesses an 

 unrivalled knowledge of the tropical West African vegetation as 

 found in its native haunts, is identical with that of the Western 

 Soudan. 



From Asare northwards the savannah .forests begin to occupy 

 the greater portion of the country, and the rocky outcrops are 

 then inhabited by a very scanty dwarf vegetation, as they are, of 

 course, in these still drier regions, the driest spots of all, from 

 which the bulk of the moisture is rapidly evaporated or drained off 

 after a shower of rain. Nevertheless, even here, small pools of 

 water collect in the hollows eroded by the action of the roots of 

 weeds, and these eventually become fairly large reservoirs of water 

 that are generally occupied by aquatic plants. As a rule, how- 

 ever, they are quite empty during the dry season. Where exten- 

 sive sheets of rock come to the surface they are often bordered by 

 rings of evergreen vegetation that stand out in marked contrast 

 with the prevailing dry growth. The supply of moisture in the 

 soil is abundant in such localities, and is due to the drainage off 

 the sheets of rock. These spots are frequently occupied by large 

 trees that belong, in habitat, to the leaf-shedding forest areas 

 (mixed, deciduous forests), or even sometimes to the moist ever- 

 green forests. Such examples show how all-important the in- 

 fluence of moisture is in determining the type of vegetation found 

 in any one locality. 



Great differences in the density of stock are met with in the 

 savannah forests. It varies from that of a well-stocked orchard 

 to the very open park-like formations of the more arid tracts, and 

 every intermediate condition is represented. The best growth 

 occurs on rich alluvial soils along the valleys and lower flanks of 

 the hills. 



The trees typical of these savannah forests are : 

 The Senegal rosewood tree (Pterocarpus erinaceus) ; Erythrina 

 xenegalensis (a small tree); the " Sasswood ' tree (Eryth- 

 rophloeum guineense), a species of Dalbergia, Parkia 

 filicoidea (the locust bean tree), Albizzia angolensis, 

 Detarium senegalensis (a good timber tree), Afzelia africana 

 (which yields an excellent timber), Tamarindus indic/i, 

 Entada soiidanica, Entada abyssinica; Ormosia laxiflora, Acacia 

 Sieberiana, Acacia Catechu, another species of Acacia close to A 

 nigrescent, DanicUti tint rlf era (the "balsam copaiba '' tree), 



