THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 317 
the wood for making canoes, chiefly owing to its lightness 
and elasticity. 
Canarium sp. Rough-barked Canarium. Ekugbi, Ekugbo (Yoru- 
ba); Onumukyukyu (Benin). 
Chief Characteristics—A large tree, with larger fissures 
than C. Schweinfurthii, about 6 inches apart ; the bark is in- 
clined to scale off in between. The leaves are a little larger, 
but the gum is very similar and used for similar purposes. 
Distribution.—It was found in the Olokemeji Forest Reserve. 
It is deciduous for about three weeks in the year, chiefly 
November, but otherwise it is a soil-protecting and soil-im- 
proving tree. 
The tree has not been felled for export or for local use. 
Nor do the natives appear to have used it for any purpose. 
Canarium Mansfeldii. Gaboon Mahogany. 
This species is found on the banks of the Upper Cross River. 
Canarium sp. Oyife (Yoruba). 
Found in the Yoruba country. 
Canarium sp., syn. Schweinfurthii. Incense Tree. Anikantuku 
(Yoruba); Onumukyukyu (Benin). 
Found in the [aro district and Benin. 
Meliacez. 
~ Carapa procera. Scented Mahogany Cedar, Crab Wood, Toulou- 
couna Oil. Efu Iya, Abo-oganwo (Yoruba); Ibbegogo (Benin). 
It is a common tree, found in the Calabar, Ogoja, Owerri, 
Warri, Benin, Ondo and Abeokuta provinces of Nigeria. 
It is a small tree, growing to a girth of about 6 feet. The 
pinne and the whole leaf are both much larger than the 
mahogany leaf, even including that of grandifolia. It often 
grows with a divided bole, two small stems shooting upwards 
from about 3 feet from the ground. The leaves grow in very 
distinct tufts on the edge of the branches. The bark is smooth 
and a light-green colour, with a few vertical uprights when 
the tree is old. The fruit is a large, roughly round, woody 
drupe. The covering shell dehisces into eight parts, releasing 
about twenty hard, brown, round-cornered, almost square 
nuts. The seeds are eaten by porcupines. It is found in 
the freshwater swamps in the evergreen forest and in damp 
places of the mixed deciduous forest. The timber is pink 
when freshly cut, and the heartwood has the red-brown typical 
of the Mahogany family. The small size of the timber rather 
militates against its reaching the high value of mahogany. 
The tree is a shade-bearer in its younger stages of growth, 
and even when older it still stands a considerable amount of 
