THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 297 
Ostryoderris impressa. White Oak. Awaw or Erumacie (Yoruba) ; 
Ori, Ehrurumesi, Erurunuesi, Awaw, (Usshin) (Benin). 
It is a common tree in the Calabar, Ogoja, Benin, Owerri 
and Abeokuta provinces of Nigeria. To be seen along the 
Benin-Siluku Road, as also in the Badagry district on the 
Ayobo-Osuke Road. 
It is a straight-boled, tall tree, with flattish crown made 
up of few straight branches with large pinnate leaves, making 
it appear flatter than it really is. The bark is slightly scaly 
with fine fissures. The slash is red, exuding a red latex. It 
reaches a height of 150 feet with a girth of 12 feet. The white, 
papery, pointed, flat, lozenge-shaped fruit, with a small kidney- 
shaped seed attached to the centre of the surface of one side, 
is most typical of the tree. The spurns are almost non-existent, 
so that the tree can be felled near the ground without trouble. 
The timber is white in the sap and brown-white in the 
heart wood, but not over-hard, very tough and not splitting 
easily. It is hard to fell, being very flexible. It planes moder- 
ately well. The colour darkens with age. 
It is a light-loving tree after the first few years. It grows 
moderately rapidly. It is a soil-improving and covering tree. 
Natural regeneration appears poor, though many seeds are 
usually seen on the ground. Insects appear to eat them rapidly. 
No plantations have been made with this tree, but experiments 
would show whether it grows well from seed. 
In 1906 a sample log was exported and sold in the Liverpool 
market as white oak at 2s. per cubic foot, and it was recom- 
mended for shipment by the brokers. 
Native Use.—It is used as posts for frames on which yams 
are tied in the Benin farms. In temporary houses, small trees 
are trimmed and squared for the forming of the walls, instead 
of dried mud. 
Dalbergia saxatilis. West African Blackwood (?). Awow (Benin). 
It is a small tree of the mixed deciduous forest of Benin ; 
it is occasionally used by the natives for hoe and axe handles. 
Dalbergia sp. West African Blackwood. Emosobegan, Paran 
(Yoruba). 
Found in the Olokemeji Reserve. 
Dalbergia sp. North Benin Blackwood. 
This is found near Aroko, in the Onitsha province, and near 
Ishoka, in the Benin province. It is a small tree with very 
hard wood. In habit very similar to Ormosia laziflora, with 
its orange-coloured bark, which is rougher than O. laxiflora 
and not so scaly. The wood is used for axe and hoe handles 
by the natives. 
