210 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 
Adansonia digitata, B. Juss. Kuka; ‘“ Baobab.” 
A characteristic tree of the dry savannah regions, often grouped 
in inhabited areas, with enormously stout stems, but in height limited 
to 40 to 60 feet. Specimens of 30 to 40 feet girth are not quite un- 
common, the swollen stem, with soft, spongy wood, being an adaptation 
to a dry climate, by storing water to meet excessive transpiration 
by the leaves. 
The bark is smooth and often has a shiny purplish tinge. Apart 
from fibre from both bark and wood, the dry fruit pulp and the seeds 
are prepared in various ways as food and drink. Large specimens 
are still found at Maradi, north of the Sokoto boundary, but chiefly 
stunted trees are met with at Zinder. 
Sterculia. tomentosa, G. et P. (Sterculiacez). Kukuki. 
A member of the semi-evergreen forests and common also in the 
dry zone as a medium-sized tree with soft, palmate-shaped leaves and 
pods four or five together, splitting to expose the black seeds with 
yellow arils. A watery juice from the bark refreshes thirsty travellers 
and a kind of gum tragacanth exudes from the trunk. 
Hannoa undulata, Planch. (Simarubee). Namijin gwabsa or Takan- 
dar giwa. (One of two species called by the latter name, vide 
Cussonia.) 
A common tree of no great size in the savannah forest. The leaves 
are pinnate, with five to seven leaflets on long stalks, the flowers, in 
creamy, fragrant panicles, appearing in October or November, and the 
fruit is a black plum with unpleasant taste. 
Irvingia Smithii, Hook. fil. 
A tree of evergreen and mixed deciduous forests which invades 
the ravines and fringing belts in the savannah region as far at least 
as Kontagora. In the Benué region it is a fairly large tree of 40 feet 
or more, often gregarious, as in a patch of moist forest opposite Katsina 
Allah, along with Pterocarpus esculentus. The scarlet fruits are known 
as Goron ruwa or Goron biri (i.e. Water or Monkey Kola), and are 
eaten by monkeys. 
Balanites Aigyptiaca, Del. Aduwa; ‘“‘ Desert Date.” 
Typical of the Soudan and of the northern drier provinces of Nigeria 
and extending into French territory ; characterized by its bifoliate 
deciduous leaves, spiny habit in dry soil and evergreen bark. The 
yellow oval fruit has a thin layer of sugary, bitter-sweet pulp, and the 
kernel yields Betu oil. 
Boswellia odorata, Hutch., and B. Daizielii, Hutch. (Burseracee). 
Hano or Ararabi. 
Two new species of “Frankincense Tree,” yielding a fragrant 
