90 COLONIAL REPORTS MISCELLANEOUS. 



belts in the vicinity of the larger rivers. Furnishes an orna- 

 mental wood. Fruit edible. Grows to a fair-sized tree. 



15. The fan palm, the Kube of the Akwapims, the Ma 

 Kube of the Ashaiitis, Bomxxux flabellifo'rrws var. cethiopica. 

 Universally distributed and extremely common in places, as, for 

 instance, in the vicinity of the small hunting village of Bunda 

 Su, and in the valley of the Surnin River. Very characteristic 

 of the open country and one of the most useful trees found there. 

 The wood is practically imperishable, the straight stems are very 

 suitable for house posts, bridge piles, &c. The pericarp of the 

 nut is edible and the leaves are used as thatch. 



Of the species enumerated above the most suitable for export 

 are JSTos. 1, 4, 5, 8, and 10, if of large size. Under proper 

 management and with the help of fire protection the growth of 

 these trees could no doubt be considerably improved. 



B. Trees the Fruit and Seeds of which are rich in Vegetable 



Oils. 



The most important of these is the 



(a) Shea butter tree, the N'ku of the Ashantis, Akwapims, and 

 Fantis, Bitty TO spermum Parkii. A small tree, very characteristic 

 of the open forests, and extremely plentiful in places. Is fre- 

 quently confounded with Lophira alata which it somewhat 

 resembles and which inhabits the same region. This species (the 

 shea butter tree) is very prolific and quantities of the fruit can 

 be seen lying about rotting under the trees. The tree is common 

 in the vicinity of the Volta, Afrani, and other navigable rivers, 

 and as the oil is of great commercial value, efforts should be 

 made to develop an industry in it on a large scale. Extensive 

 tracts of country in British West Africa are inhabited by this 

 species and the exploitation of the product on a large scale would 

 considerably increase the value of what are at present looked 

 upon as waste lands. I was glad to notice that the inhabitants 

 of the small village of Sadang at the foot of the Kwahu Hills, 

 on the Abetifi-Atabobo road, were collecting the nuts for export 

 down the Volta Elver. 



Other species rich in oils are : - 



(6) The so-called African oak, Lophira alata, the seeds of 

 which contain a high percentage of oil; they are, however, very 

 small, and it is doubtful whether the collection of the seeds on 

 a large scale would prove remunerative. As mentioned above, the 

 species is universally distributed in the open grass country. Its 

 congener, L. pmrcm, the Kaku, from the maritime zone, has 

 much larger seeds, and it may pay to collect them. 



(c} Ricinodendron africanus. The seeds of this species have 

 been analysed in Europe and found to contain a very high per- 

 centage of useful vegetable fats. The tree is most prolific and 

 large quantities of seed are available if a demand springs up 

 for them. This tree is quite common in the mixed evergreen 

 and deciduous forests of the intermediate zone. In the open 

 country it is confined to the belts of evergreen forest. 



