342 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 
Phialodiscus sp.?. Bush Akee. Awewe, Ishin Oko, Isinko 
(Yoruba) ; Ukpi nikwi (Benin). 
Identified from a specimen in the Forestry Arboretum, 
Calabar. 
Chief Characteristics —The capsule splits into three and 
allows three black seeds to escape, with small yellow aril round 
the base. The whole fruit and the individual seeds are much 
smaller than Blighta sapida, though, as the Benin name in- 
dicates, this is so similar that it is called the black variety 
of Ukpi. The fruit is triangular in shape, otherwise very much 
the same size as African Oak, Oldfieldia Africana. 
Found in the Calabar, Owerri, Benin, Ondo and Abeokuta 
provinces of Nigeria. 
Blighia sp. Ishin Oko, Oko Ishin (Yoruba); Ukpi nikwi (Benin). 
Distribution.—Ibadan, Abeokuta, Jebu Ode, Benin, Owerri 
and Calabar provinces of Nigeria. Probably same as 
Phialodiscus sp. 
Chief Characteristics —The very insignificant white flower- 
spikes, hidden away amongst the leaves, but attracting numerous 
bees in February and March, characterize this variety. It is 
‘a medium-sized tree, with light-green foliage, thin, lanceolate 
leaves, a thin grey bark, smooth and close and oval-shaped 
crown, through which one cannot see. The capsule is dehiscent, 
with three black seeds with yellow arils, smaller than Blighia 
sapida, but otherwise quite similar in shape, except that the 
capsule is more triangular than that of B. sapida, and shorter 
also and of a dark brown colour. It is not unlike the fruit 
of the real African Oak, -Oldfieldia Africana, except that this 
is quite spherical in shape. 
Timber.—White _ sapwood and _ light-brown heartwood, 
which is moderately hard. It does not plane well, and is 
sometimes cross-grained ; the texture of the wood is fine, but 
is a little fibrous. It saws easily, but does not split well. The 
bole being very cylindrical in shape, comparatively long, even- 
widthed planks can be cut out of it. 
It is a somewhat slow-growing, shade-bearing, soil-protecting 
and soil-improving tree. Natural regeneration does not appear 
to be good. It is somewhat exacting as to soil, and does not 
thrive in a moist sand. It is somewhat fire-resisting. In the 
dry season a good deal of dew is condensed on the leaves, but 
not so much as in other genera, such as Anona. 
The timber has not been cut for export, nor has it been sawn 
up for jocal use. It deserves, however, further trial as a local 
building timber. A specimen, from which the tree was deter- 
mined, stands in the forest region of Calabar. 
Use.—Native implements of various kinds. 
