276 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 
It is a large tree, reaching a girth of over 10 feet and a 
bole length of over 30 feet. The crown, however, is large 
and wide-spreading, but generally spherical in shape. Com- 
paratively low down, the bole divides up into three or four 
main limbs. ‘The trunk is seldom very straight, usually having 
a twist in one direction or another. The root spurns are 
moderately large, but are rounded in shape. The bark is dark- 
brown and thick, scaling off to a slight extent in old age. The 
fruit is a pod about 3 inches long and an inch wide, containing 
six or eight flattish black beans, black to brown. These burst 
when ripe, but the seeds only gradually fall to the ground. 
The fine pinnate leaves are close together and open out into 
dense foliage most typical of the Leguminosew. The upper 
part of the limbs and trunk is light-brown. The flowers are 
minute and not often seen. 
The sapwood is dull yellow and the heartwood a dull 
red-brown. It is very heavy and hard, but not as hard as red 
ironwood or the Yoruba ironwood. It is very durable and 
quite termite-proof; although sometimes a little cross-grained, 
with good tools it can be worked up to a smooth finish by 
planing. Holes have to be made in it for nails. It saws well, 
but splits only moderately easily. In the saw mill it was found 
that the hardness of the wood blunted the saws, which needed 
constantly sharpening. 
It is a slow-growing, shade-bearing, soil-protecting, soil- 
improving tree. Natural regeneration appears to be good, 
and it is moderately resistant to fire. Tends to condense dew 
in the dry season. It suppresses most other trees by shade. 
Amongst the dry-zone vegetation it clings to the banks of 
rivers, and is common on the upper banks of the upper reaches 
of the Ogun. No plantations have been made with this tree. 
In 1906 sample logs of the sister tree, EH. micranthum, were 
exported and sold in the Liverpool market as a species of oak, 
so that this timber deserves a trial as a substitute for teak 
or oak, 
It was cut for the Public Works Department at Onitsha 
and found very suitable for decking of bridges. The small 
bridge over the Nkissi, near Onitsha, was built entirely with 
this timber. 
Erythrophleum micranthum. Sasswood or Ordeal Bark. Ovinni 
(Benin); Erinji (Ijor); Ihi (Ibo, Owerri). 
It is found in the Warri, Benin and Calabar provinces of 
Nigeria. 
As a small tree, one of the first to appear when the mangrove 
swamp gives way to the evergreen rain forest near the coast. 
