581 



side of the Colony — for ship-building ; but is practically unknown 

 in commerce at the present day (Kew Bull. 1913, p. 82). 



An interesting note in reference to the use for ship-building, 

 &c. is given in the Kew Journal of Botany (Hooker, ii. 1850,. 

 pp. 185-186). — *' It was about the year 1819 that the value of 

 African Oak or Teak was first experienced in the British Navy 

 and it has proved of the highest importance for certain parts of 

 a vessel. The *' Nimrod/' a 28-gun ship is built of it but the 

 weight of the wood is much against it as a material exclusively, 

 and, of late, its use has been confined to beams, keelsons, water* 

 ways, shelf-pieces, and framing of bitts, &c. ; so that in the 

 opinion of many, for such purposes no timber is comparable to 

 ]t except the *' Sabicu " {Acacia fonaosa^ H. B. K.) [= Lysiloma 

 Sahicii] from Cuba.' 



The wood is very heavy, a specimen in the Kew Museum,. 

 presented by the Admiralty in 1855 is over 60 lb. per cubic ft. 

 and sinks in water, the exact weight of the specimen is given as 

 64 1b. 13 oz. 8 drs. 



i?6/.— " African Oak or Teak," in Timber & Timber Trees, 



Laslett, pp. 299-303 (Macmillan <fc Co. London, 1894). 



*' African Oak, Oldfieldia africana/' in Timbers of Commerce, 

 Stone, pp. 195-196 (Wm. Rider & Son, Ltd, London, 1904). 



Uapaca, Baill. 



Uapaca guineensis, 3IulL Arg.; Fl. Trop. Afr. VI, Sect. 1, 



p. 640. 



7ZZ.— Hook. Ic. PI. 1. 1287. 



Vernac. names. — Ajebe (Yoruba, Benin, FarquJiar) ; Kafafogo 

 (Sokoto, Dalziel) ; Fie (Bonny, Barter) ; Omukusu (Uganda, 

 Dawe) ; Kundi (Sierra Leone, Sinythe & Unwin) ; Nkpana 

 (Uwet, Calabar Elver, il/acieorZ); He (Ibo, Thompson). 



Upper Guinea — -Sierra Leone to the Cross River, Nigeria ; 

 Upper Ubangi and Uganda. 



Fruit edible, resembling a medlar in flavour, Nupe (Barter,, 

 No. 1693, Herb. Kew) ; a valuable timber tree, Uganda at 

 4000 ft. (Dawe, No. 957, Herb. Kew) ; timber good for beams, 

 Uwet (Macleod, Herb. Kew) ; the fruit sometimes an ingredient 

 in arrow poison (Dalziel, Hausa Bot. Voc. p. 53). 



A tree 40-60 ft. high in moist ravines where it generally 



makes large aerial roots up the stem something Uke the mangrove^ 

 Nupe (Barter, I.e.), up to 40 ft. or more in swampy forests,. 

 Buddu, Uganda (Dawe, Herb. Kew) ; large forest tree, stem 

 supported* on numerous aerial roots, Lagos (Moloney, Herb, 

 Kew). 



Uapaca Heudelotii, Baill.) Fl. Trop. Afr. VL Sect. 1, p. 639. 



Vernac. name. — Yeye (Lagos, Foster) ; He (Bonny, Moloney, 

 Barter). 



L^pper Guinea — Senegambia to the Cameroons. 



