SIERRA LEONE 27 
the shape, size and colour of an oak-apple. The capsule has five faint 
ribs on its surface, but contains only three seeds. The little seedling, 
with light grey stem and white lenticels, is easily recognized. It 
usually has also only three leaflets on its leaves, instead of forming 
true digitate leaves as a full-grown tree. The sapling once started 
shows fairly rapid growth, and during the early years stands a 
good deal of shade. It should therefore be classified as a slight 
shade-bearer. African Oak is a dark reddish-brown wood, which is 
very hard and most durable. It has, of course, a much closer grain 
than ordinary oak. A very smooth surface can be obtained by planing 
the timber. Locally, small trees are cut for conversion by pit-saw 
into timber for boat keels. This timber was exported as teak from 
Sierra Leone 1827 to 1835 for use in the English Navy. It was after- 
wards lost sight of, though the natives continued to use it locally. 
During 1908 a few round logs of short length (12-16 feet) of this timber 
were exported to England and sold in a Liverpool market for 2s. 6d. 
per cubic foot (extreme measure). 
2. Ironpost, or African Oak, or Red Ironwood (Lophira procera), 
is the most common tree throughout the peninsula. According to 
the Conservator of Forests in Sierra Leone, 80 per cent. of the trees 
of the peninsular forest are Lophira procera. / All stages of growth 
are found, from the smallest seedlings to the largest tree, over 
100 feet high and 20 feet in girth. In the forest the tree has an 
orange-coloured bark, which rapidly turns grey when exposed to the 
rays of the sun. The bole is not always quite cylindrical, especially 
near the base, where it often develops rather angular root protu- 
berances. This seems to occur more often on rocky ground, such 
as that where the tree is found in the peninsula. For a similar 
reason the bole is not always straight, though in the ordinary way 
the tree has a comparatively small crown with short branches. Thus, 
in proportion to the size of the tree, the bole is very long, the twigs 
are thickish, and the long thin paper-knifelike leaves appear at the 
ends of them. Seedlings seem to come up wherever suitable con- 
ditions of reproduction are found. A clear bole is typical of 
these trees in the pole stage of growth. [Illustration No. 2 shows a 
large specimen on the edge of the forest, and there are 
many large trees with the peculiar root protuberances, growing in 
the forest. The timber is very hard and of a dark red colour, which 
it retains when dry. The heartwood forms comparatively early in 
the life of the tree, and although the sapwood is white, it is almost 
as hard as the heartwood. For this reason comparatively small 
trees yield timber, and thus can be felled earlier than trees in 
which the heartwood forms later. Of course, in this connection it 
should not be forgotten that the market does not desire logs of too 
small a size, i.e. of 18 inches or under, when squared. Locally this 
