854 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 
Reserve, and is a large tree, 8 to 10 feet in girth. The wood 
is said by the natives to be durable. 
Cola cauliflora (F.). Cola Mahogany. Isienwe (Benin). 
It is common in the Benin province of Nigeria, in the 
mixed deciduous forest zone, where it is not very prevalent. 
It is a medium-sized tree, reaching a girth of 6 feet. 
The seed is a small nut. The leaves are very dark and 
are comparatively large. The bole reaches a length of about 
20 feet. 
The sapwood is whitish and the heartwood of a red-brown, 
similar to mahogany. The texture is, however, not quite so 
fine and a little more fibrous. It planes fairly well and takes 
nails fairly easily, but it does not split well. It is durable 
and is said to be termite-proof. It is a somewhat slow-growing, 
shade-bearing, soil-protecting and soil-improving tree. Natural 
regeneration is only moderate, and it sprouts slightly from 
the stump. It is somewhat exacting as to soil, and is usually 
found in a loamy sand, with plenty of moisture and depth. 
It was valued at 2d. to 24d. a superficial foot as mahogany 
of fair character in the Liverpool market in 1906. But since 
then no more has been felled or exported. 
The natives use it as firewood in the Benin country. It 
has not been felled for local use. 
Cola laurifolia. Laurel-leaved Cola. Foma (Yoruba). 
It is an uncommon tree, found in the Olokemeji Reserve 
of the Abeokuta province of Nigeria. A small tree with small 
flowers. 
Cola acuminata (Beauv.). Common Cola. Obi Abata (Yoruba) ; 
Eve (Benin). 
It is a common tree of the Calabar, Ogoge, Owerri, Warri, 
Benin, Ondo, Ibadan and Abeokuta provinces of Nigeria. 
It is the ordinary Cola of the Benin villages, but it is also 
found in the forest. In other parts of the country it has 
been planted along the sides of the roads leading into Egbado, 
Jebu, Ode, Ondo, Ikale and Ilesha villages. 
Always standing in the shade and with a heavy evergreen 
foliage, the cream-coloured flowers with a pink streak on each 
petal show up very clearly when the tree comes into bloom 
in February or March. According to the native ideas, the tree 
must never be pruned, nor, in fact, should it be cut either 
partially or wholly under any circumstances. However, in 
passing to and from their farms, boys and young men often chip 
the trunk of the tree with a matchet. This, they say, has the 
effect of making it produce more fruit ; otherwise the tree 
always looks very dirty, and often the trunk and the branches 
