THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 249 
is slightly fissured, and does not show lenticels like the Iroko, 
especially not on the roots. In proportion to the size of the 
tree, the root spurns are larger than in the case of Iroko. It 
it usually found growing singly, whereas groups of Iroko are 
often common, or anyhow several are found in one locality. 
The timber is white and of medium hardness, but very 
durable indeed. It is termite proof. It planes well, but does 
not split easily. It saws well and takes nails fairly easily. 
It is of fairly rapid growth, at first shade-bearing, and later 
a somewhat light-demanding tree, with soil-protecting and 
soil-improving qualities. Natural regeneration only appears 
to be moderate. It sprouts from the stump. 
The timber has not been exported, not has it been sawn 
up for local use. 
Native Use.—The timber is used amongst the Benis as 
rafters and ceilings for house-building, as it is uncut or squared. 
Trema affinis or T. Africana. African Elm. Afofero (Yoruba). 
Found in the Abeokuta province of Nigeria. 
Moracee. 
Antiaris toxiaria. False Oroko. Oro Aiyo, (Egba) (Yoruba) ; 
Ogiovu (Benin). 
It is a common tree in the Calabar, Ogoja, Owerri, 
Warri, Benin, Ondo, Ibadan and Abeokuta provinces of 
Nigeria. 
It is a large tree, reaching a girth of 15 feet and a bole 
length of 70 feet, of very cylindrical shape. There are large 
surface roots, which stick up out of the ground on roadsides, 
but form only low root spurns. The bark is grey, smooth 
and almost shiny in the sun, The crown is heavier and less 
open than Iroko, but otherwise in habit it is similar. The 
leaves on the whole are smaller and the foliage generally is 
of a lighter green than the Iroko, except when the latter puts 
on new leaves in February or March. The fruit is a little 
spherically shaped nut with a papery covering easily removed, 
disclosing a round nut with small markings all round it. Two 
kernels are found inside on cracking it. The slash is yellowish 
white, and gradually a little thin white latex exudes. The 
tree usually appears after a few years on abandoned farms. 
The leaf is rough to the hand, almost as bad as Ficus asperata, 
but there are no hairs on the under surface. On the whole 
the branches are much flatter than Oroko, though the top 
of the crown isround. The timber is soft and white all through. 
Termites attack it. It is very light and might almost pass 
as a substitute for cork. It has large and wide medullary 
