254 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 
size; it is also quicker growing than the male. The female 
has stout, finger-thick, solid catkins, whereas the male has 
thin, long, open catkins up to 6 inches long. The timber of 
the male is darker brown and closer grained than that of the 
female, and also harder. The sapwood is wider in the female 
tree, but there is also a very wide difference between trees 
of both genders when they are grown in the open, old farms, 
or in dense, high forest, the latter yielding the hardest and 
closest-grained timber. The crown is almost umbrella-shaped 
and open, so that the leaves appear large in proportion, and 
it is usually possible to see through it. Three or four large 
limbs form the mainstay of it (see plate No. 37). The 
yellow lenticels on the stem, especially in younger specimens, 
and also on the red roots, are typical of the tree. The slash 
is yellowish, with little red spots in it. A little white latex 
flows out too. 
In proportion to the size of the tree the root spurns are 
not very large, reaching 3 or 4 feet up the tree, and being well 
rounded, do not spoil the shape of the base of the bole. In 
older specimens the bark becomes brown, and finally almost 
grey in colour, and scales off to a slight extent. Although it 
forms very large side roots, it has a tap-root going to con- 
siderable depth. The loose seeds are small and flat, being 
not unlike those of alder, but rather larger and thinner. 
It is found in all the Southern Provinces of Nigeria, both 
in the evergreen and mixed forest zones, where it is none too 
prevalent. 
Timber.—Sapwood is yellowish white, and the heartwood 
of a yellow brown to dark brown (oak to teak brown). It 
is moderately hard, very durable and termite-proof. It does 
not plane very well, being sometimes cross-grained; it can, 
however, be worked up to a smooth finish. The grain is rather 
open and the pores very long. It has, however, an oily feel, 
and a certain amount of sheen. It takes nails with difficulty, 
splits moderately well and saws easily, It soon darkens on 
exposure to the air and light, becoming in this respect much 
darker than oak in a similar period. When seasoned properly 
it does not warp excessively. If taken green from the forest 
zone into a drier climate it will split. In the past a good deal 
of timber has been used in this state. 
It is a moderately fast-growing, at first shade-bearing and 
subsequently a light-demanding tree, with soil-protecting and 
soil-improving qualities. It is deciduous for a few weeks in 
the year, generally in February or March, but specimens vary 
a great deal in this respect. Natural regeneration is very 
