THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 333 
The timber is a little more closely grained than that of 
R. Rautenii, but otherwise very similar. On the whole the 
bole has a less good shape, tapering rather more in proportion 
to its height. The timber length of the tree does not usually 
exceed 25 feet. Natural regeneration is very good, though 
this tree does not bear seed so heavily as the sister species. 
It sprouts well from the stump, but the stump does not last. 
In its youth it will stand a little shade, but is really a light- 
loving tree, with soil-protecting, soil-improving qualities. It 
is not quite so rapid a growing tree as R. Rautenit, even though 
it is one of the quickest growing trees. It appears to like a 
moist, comparatively rich soil. 
In 1906 samples of this timber were sold in the Liverpool 
market as a species of mahogany. It is, however, probable 
that these were logs from a different kind of tree, as the 
wood is too dull a brown colour to be really like mahogany. 
Locally it has not been sawn up for planks, but deserves a 
trial as a box-making and pattern-making wood. 
Native Use.—It is felled indiscriminately with R. Rautenti 
and used for a similar purpose. 
Ricinodendron Rautenii. Yoruba Coffin Wood. Ekku, Puttuputtu 
(Yoruba) ; Okwen-seva, Okkwen nebo (Benin). 
A large tree, up to 12 feet in girth, with stout branches 
and roughly fissured bark reminding one of oak. The fruit 
is slightly three-lobed, containing three seeds. The leaf is 
digitate, with the number of digits varying from five to seven. 
The leaves are larger and thicker and with a rougher surface 
than those of R. Africanus. The crown is thicker, more wide- 
spread, and roughly spherical in shape. The roots usually 
come out of the ground near the base of the tree and form 
rough root spurns, extending 3 or 4 feet up the bole of the 
tree. The bole reaches a length of 30 feet. 
It is one of the commonest trees in the moist secondary 
forests and at the edge of the mixed deciduous forests in 
Benin, Abeokuta, Calabar. 
The timber of this tree was described as a “species of 
mahogany ” and suitable for the Liverpoo] market in 1906. 
Native Use.—By the Yorubas it is cut down and sawn up 
into planks for making coffins. Mostly medium-sized trees 
are used for this purpose. None of the natives apparently 
know how to use the nuts. 
Ricinodendron sp. Species of Mahogany. Okwen seni (Benin). 
The African oil-nut, with four nuts in each fruit, appears 
to be the same, but this larger number of nuts is the specially 
distinguishing feature, and has been given a distinct name 
