GUIDE TO TIMBERS OF NIGERIA 69 



evergreen forests, especially in the neighbourhood of fresh- water 

 swamps, also found in the deciduous forests near swamps." 

 Illustrations. Hopkinson 1912, p. 446, fig. 5, tr. sec. x. 

 about 50. Fig. 6, parenchyma with crystals. Fig. 7, wood- 

 fibres tr. sec. showing pits. 



Uapaca Staudtii, Pax. Euphorbiaceae. Gen. No. 6428. 



LOCALITIES. Nigeria, British sphere Cameroons. 



VERNACULAR NAMES Akun ; Bosambe ; Bosambi (com. 

 to Pycnanthus ; not Bosambai). 



Description from a specimen No. 3610 " Akun " Nigeria, 

 received from the Government of the Colony (Lagos). 



A moderately hard and heavy wood of a colour rather darker 

 than that of English Beech, but distinctly recalling that wood. 

 Dark stripes here and there ; grain, medium coarse ; surface 

 clean ; dry to the touch, not cold ; shade of the transverse 

 section considerably darker than that of the other sections ; 

 smell, none ; polishes readily. The red rays are an unusual 

 character ; silver-grain very prominent. 



STRUCTURE. Transverse section. (Prepared with glass- 

 paper and broken glass.) 



Parenchyma of one kind only : (a) sheathing the pores and 

 making them readily visible to the naked eye ; not extending 

 in wings ; colour, buff ; proportion of the mass of the wood, 

 including vessels, about one-third. 



Vessels just visible to the unaided eye as perforations apart 

 from their parenchyma, rather large, not diminishing outwards 

 in size. Variation in numbers considerable by zones at indefi- 

 nite intervals ; number per sq. mm. 8-16. Arrangement as a 

 rule regular, being scattered evenly over the section, but here 

 and there where the vessels are less numerous there is a sugges- 

 tion of oblique lines, otherwise the vessels are widely isolated ; 

 mostly single, but many pairs ; oval ; empty. 



Rays on the limit of vision not contrasting much with the 

 ground except here and there where darker ones occur ; red ; 

 of one kind only ; about the size of those of the English Birch ; 

 straight ; number per mm. 5-7 ; about the width of a vessel 

 apart, very regular in size and spacing ; proportion of the mass 

 of the wood about one-third. Contents, red. 



Ground- tissue- cells visible with macroscope. Proportion of 



