GOLD COAST REPORT ON FORESTS. 77 



between the Jym River and the Danipia range of hills, an oppor- 

 tunity was given of ascertaining the type of vegetation to be 

 found along that road as far to the south-east as the crest of the 

 range of hills mentioned above. 



Generally speaking, the forest growth met with contained but 

 few species of any economic importance. The Odoum (Cliloro- 

 phora excelsa), an odd cedar (Pseudocedrela sp.), the shedua or 

 gum copal tree (Cyanothyrsus ogea), Funtumia elastica, the 

 shingle tree (Terminalia sp.), and a few mahoganies (Khaya sp.), 

 were the only valuable trees met with. Of these the Odoum and 

 the Off rani were far and away the most plentiful, and formed a 

 conspicuous feature of the vegetation. 



The forests are of secondary growth, and are very irregular as 

 regards the condition of the growing stock. They are much 

 honeycombed with farms at the present time, and show abundant 

 traces of having been subjected to the same treatment in the past. 

 As usually happens in such cases, the clearing of the forests for 

 farms and the subsequent relapse into " bush " of the abandoned 

 (fallow) sites, has resulted in a few selected species of trees only 

 becoming dominant in the secondary growth that springs up. 



These selected species generally throughout the country consist 

 of the Odoum (Chlorophora excelsa), Dahomah (Piptadenia 

 africana), the Off ram or shingle wood tree, the Emril, another 

 shingle wood tree, Pentaclethramacropliylla, the Waw-waw (jTr?^- 

 lochiton Johns onii), and Ricinodendron ajricanux. These trees 

 are left by the natives as ' standards ' when they clear the 

 forest for farms, and by a repetition of this process the dominance 

 of the favoured species becomes accentuated as the felling rota- 

 tions increase in number, till in time the forest acquires the 

 character of a wood that has been exploited under the " coppice 

 with standards " system, the standards being composed of a mixed 

 crop of the favoured species enumerated above, whilst the " cop- 

 pice '' consists of a very dense tangled mass of vegetation formed 

 to a large extent of climbers, such as various species of 

 Tjandolpliia, Carpodinus, Clitandra, ' Hippo crate a, Strophanthus, 

 Combretum, Acacia pennata, Acacia ataxacantlra, and shrubs and 

 trees such as Haronrja madagascariensis, Rauwolfia, Myrinnllma 

 (irboreiix, the "umbrella tree'' (Mnxtmrja Stnitliii), Albizzias, 

 and a host of other species. Amongst the dominant species of the 

 overwood (standards) natural regeneration by seed is most success- 

 ful in the case of the Waw-waw and the Offram trees. 



Along the Cape Coast road, between Kuinasi and Kwisa, some 

 excellent examples of this type of secondary forests are to be met 

 with. The older forests are confined to the vicinity of the largest 

 streams, as, for example, the Adra River, and to swampy areas, 

 such as the swamps met with between Dompoase and Fomena, 

 where farming has not been much resorted to in the past. 



Comparing these forests with those of the Western Ashanti that 

 are situated on approximately the same parallel of latitude, the 

 most marked difference between the two is the extraordinary abun- 

 dance in the latter of species of cedars (Pseudocedrela), and maho- 

 ganies (fthayas). This, in conjunction with the fact that in places 



