THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 357 
(Brass) ; Okikopom (Ibibio) ; Enwan, Umpenek (Efik); Okut 
Okot (Oban, Ekoi); Kuru (Ibo Owerri); Okut (Kwa). 
Chief Characteristics.—It is a very large tree, up to 6 feet 
in diameter, with orange-coloured bark, when in the shade of 
the evergreen forest where it is found, but this soon becomes 
quite grey when exposed to the sun. The flowers are white, 
with five petals, and are very fragrant, smelling like musk, 
covering the ground and scenting the forest in November 
and December. In October and November the tree is very 
conspicuous with its brilliant new red foliage, which almost 
appears like flowers in the distance. On the banks of the 
Calabar River, above the town of the same name, this is seen 
to advantage. The fruit is winged, but with one wing twice 
as long as the other and also broader ; the seed is sharply pointed 
and almost conical in section, and not so meaty as that of 
L. alata. The crown is spherical, but open; the branches are 
very twisted and reminiscent of oak. The trunk reaches a 
length of 90 feet and is almost perfectly cylindrical in shape, 
with only the slightest indication of spurns at the base. 
Distribution.—It is found inthe Abeokuta, Jebu, Ode, Benin, 
Owerri, Ogoja (?) and Calabar provinces of Nigeria. It is one 
of the commonest trees in the very moist parts of the ever- 
green forest zone. 
Timber.—The sapwood is whitish red, but the heartwood 
is of a dull red colour with large, long, open pores, partially 
filled with siliceous salts. This often gives the wood an almost 
speckled appearance. In a tree of 12 feet girth, the sapwood 
is usually only 3 or 4 inches thick, making it a very full- 
wooded tree and thus reducing the amount of wood wasted 
in squaring the logs. It planes well, with a smooth, shiny 
surface. Strong shoots often come up from the stump, though 
owing to the natural seed distribution being good, this latter 
is the chief means of reproduction. It is a light-lover, with 
a natural tendency to grow straight up. It is a slow-growing 
tree, and the leaves, nearly a foot long and almost tongue- 
shaped, are very large for such a hard-wooded tree. Even 
when planted 16 feet apart it grows up straight, with only three 
or four perpendicular branches or even only a fork in the 
stem. It resists white ants, and the teredo worm does 
not bore into logs when lying in the water. It is almost gre- 
garious in habit, usually groups being found in one locality, 
or, as in the moister regions, it is next to mahogany the com- 
monest tree found in the forest. It will withstand floods— 
in fact, there is an island several square miles in extent in the 
Oshun River covered with only this species of tree. It is also 
