THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 301 
the better-coloured wood, and that which has been more slowly 
grown, deserve a trial. 
So far, the greatest use of this tree has been the production 
of the pink-coloured transparent gum which is one of the best 
of the confectioner’s gums in Great Britain. Very large quan- 
tities are exported every year from the Northern Provinces. 
Large round tears or lumps form on the stem of the tree 
when it is cut. Locally the tree is used for house-building, 
but it is not considered a durable wood. 
Leguminose (Mimosez). 
Acacia ataxacantha. Benin Rope Acacia. Ewon (Yoruba); 
Okwenkwen (Benin). 
A common creeper of the mixed deciduous zone. It is 
found in the Abeokuta, Oyo, Ibadan, Ondo, Benin, Warri, 
Onitsha, Owerri, Calabar and Ogoja provinces of Nigeria. 
It is usually found growing in large impenetrable masses 
3 to 4 feet high. It is armed throughout with short but very 
sharp, bent prickles. 
It often grows up in waste places where the bush has been 
cleared in the mixed deciduous forest zone. 
Both the Yorubas and Benis use the inside fibres of this 
creeper for making a very strong kind of rope—in fact, it is 
the strongest of all native-made ropes. It does not get so stiff 
or harsh as that made of Eso from the Firmania Bartert. 
Distemanthus Benthaniami (?) (Baill.). Alinyan (Benin). 
Found in the Benin province. 
Erythrina suberifera (Kew). Attagbo (Yoruba). 
It is a moderately common tree of the Abeokuta province 
of Nigeria. Its most distinguishing feature is the size of the 
leaf, which is similar to the tulip-tree. It reaches a much 
larger size than H. Senegalensis and has a girth of over 6 feet. 
The bark is a dark duck-egg-green colour, with a few white, 
shallow longitudinal fissures. The prickles on the stem are 
more scattered and much larger than those of £. Senegalensis. 
The slash is white and the bark thin when compared to the size 
of the tree. The wood is white and soft, and not durable. 
It cuts and saws easily, but does not plane well. It is a light- 
loving tree which does not protect the soil. It has not been 
cut for local use, nor for export. As a soft whitewood for 
interior use it ought to find a local market. 
Leguminose (Papilionacez). 
Erythrina Senegalensis (D.C.). Coral-flower. Ologun she-she 
(Yoruba) ; Esanigbakhehe, Ohehe (Benin). 
It is a common tree in the upper part of the Onitsha, Benin, 
