812 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 
It has not been cut for local use or exported to Europe. 
It is used for making shovels for mud-puddling in the building 
of Benin houses ; also for pegs in the walls of a chief’s house. 
Toddalia sp. Oie (Yoruba). 
A climbing shrub common in Tropical West Africa. The 
fertile stamens are equal in number to the petals. Leaves 
digitate. 
Uses.—Condiments and medicine. 
4igle Barteri. Calabash Orange. Shange, Bale (Yoruba). 
This is a small tree growing near the villages, cultivated 
for its shade and for medicinal purposes. The fruit looks 
like an orange, but the shell is hard and it is not edible. 
Clausena Amsata (Oliv.). Alapari, Obuko (Yoruba). 
It is found in the Olokemeji Reserve of the Abeokuta 
province of Nigeria. 
Simarubacee. 
Irvingia Barteri. Dika Nut, Wild Mango. Oro, Auro 
(Yoruba) ; Ogwi (tree), Okherli (seed) (Benin). 
It is found in the Abeokuta, Ondo, Benin, Warri, Onitsha, 
Owerri, Calabar and Ogoja provinces of Nigeria. 
With its smooth, shining, small dark-green leaves it is 
quite distinguishable from other forest trees. The very 
spherical shape of the crown and the short bole are also most 
typical of the tree. It is often found near river banks or in 
damp localities. Wherever found, it is usually preserved by 
the natives, though not actually cultivated or tended. 
The flower is inconspicuous, but the fruit is like a small 
mango, becoming quite yellow when ripe, though much harder 
and of a much sharper flavour. 
The wood is hard and durable; the sapwood is yellowish- 
white and the heartwood yellow. It is impervious to white 
ants. 
The tree is a shade-bearer, especially in youth, but grows 
very slowly. Those planted near Leopardstown, Calabar, 
were only 6 to 8 feet high after ten years’ growth. It is true 
they received little or no attention and occasionally the grass 
was burnt near them. 
No regular plantations have been made, though one plot 
was planted in the Mamu Reserve in 1910. Further experi- 
ments in cultivation, and especially pruning and tending to 
see how early the tree will bear fruit, are worth undertaking. 
A method to increase the size of the fruit, and with it the size 
of the kernel, might be discovered and thus make it a profitable 
tree to grow in plantations. 
