i6 



quartz. In the north there is a stretch of sandstone on which the 

 later ite also occurs. The character and depth of soil do not appear 

 to be responsible for any difference in the composition of this forest. 



The area generally is well supplied with rivers and embraces the 

 headwaters of the Bia and Tano rivers and the tributaries of the Prah. 

 Along its northern fringe the Sudanese Zone has made deep inroads, but 

 it still holds out in varying degree as fringes of forest along the beds of 

 the rivers and streams. The country as a whole is higher than that 

 to the south, and whilst generally averaging a height of 500 feet, there 

 are ranges and isolated peaks that attain to a height of 2,000 feet. 

 It would appear that these hill masses exert as much influence on the 

 retaining of the forest as do the rivers and watercourses. When the 

 prevailing south-west rain-bearing wind strikes these ranges which, 

 as they run in a general direction from north-west to south-east, lie 

 right across it, increased precipitation results. As a result of this it 

 is noticed that the south-west half of Ashanti is still under forest 

 (farmed areas excepted), whereas the north-eastern half is Savannah 

 Forest. On a large scale this retaining influence is exercised over the 

 forest to the south-west of the Kwahu range where even specimens of 

 Lophira procera, exceptionally characteristic of the Evergreen Forest, 

 still linger on in heavy forest. This influence is also seen in frequent 

 isolated instances outside the Guinea Zone proper, such as the thickly- 

 wooded area to the south of the Ejura and Kintampo scarps in striking 

 contrast to the open Savannah Forest immediatelyto the north of them. 

 Throughout these isolated remnants of forest and the fringing forests, 

 the low canopy of small trees and the herbaceous flora are of the same 

 floristic composition as that of the Evergreen Forest, for the air currents 

 away from the ground affect the vegetation far more than the lesser 

 ones on the surface. 



From an economic point of view the Deciduous Forest is exceedingly 

 rich in the best-known timber species, and has been considered by more 

 than one authority to be the richest timber forest in West Africa. Its 

 preservation hitherto has depended on its inaccessibility to exploita- 

 tion, and for the moment this still holds, but the destruction due to 

 increased shifting cultivation with the opening up of the country by 

 motor roads in recent years is very evident. In addition to timber, 

 rubber-producing trees are also much in evidence : these include 

 Funtumia sp, Cholorophora excelsa, Irvingia sp, and Antiaris toxicaria ; 

 whilst of other trees of economic importance that find a home in this 

 type of forest Cola acuminata (C. nitida ?), from which the " Kola Nut " 

 of commerce is obtained, occurs commonly, and is cultivated in 

 naturally regenerated forest farms. 



From a. survey of these forests certain outstanding dominant species 

 appear as characteristic of it, either by their extraordinary common 



