THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 361 
The root spurns are not very large, but spoil the shape of the 
bole at the base. ‘ 
It is a slow-growing, shade-bearing, soil-protecting and 
soil-improving tree. Natural regeneration is poor, chiefly 
perhaps because ihe Duika eat the fruit; in fact, the Benin 
name means the chop or food of Uso or Duika. 
In 1906 samples of this timber were sold in the Liverpool 
market as a hardwood, which was considered hard and heavy. 
Since then none has been shipped, nor has it been felled for 
local use. Perhaps with the changed conditions in the demand 
for timber, both hard and soft, a further trial would now show 
whether it was of any value as an export timber. 
Pentadesma grandifolia. 
Distribution.—It is found in the Oban Reserve of the Calabar 
province of Nigeria. 
Characteristics.—It is a medium-sized tree, with large oblong 
leaves having numerous glands and lateral nerves which are 
about a tenth of an inch apart. The leaves are larger and 
the exterior sepal shorter than in P. butyracee. 
Silvicultural Qualities —It grows in the evergreen forest, 
is a shade-bearer, and comparatively slow-growing tree. 
Utility Although the fruit has not yet been collected, it 
it probable that the nuts would contain a similar oil to those 
of P. butyracee. 
Pentadesma butyracee. Butter or Tallow Tree. Okarora, Ossa 
(Ondo); Ekuso (Yoruba) (Ikale); Ijeni Udegbu, Agba (west 
side), Udegbi (Benin); Orugbo erin (Ondo); Amu Ne (New 
Calabar) ; Ikakama Udia Ebian (Efik); Ikakama Udia Ebian, 
Igbofia (Ibibio) ; Ntini Nyok (Kwa). 
Distribution.—It is found in the evergreen forests of the 
Jebu, Ode, Benin, Warri, Owerri and Calabar provinces of 
Nigeria. It is quite prevalent in its typical locality and very 
damp, almost swampy, regions of the forest near small water- 
ways, even comparatively near the sea. 
Chief Characteristics. —It is a thin, tall tree, with dark bark 
and flatly compressed crown consisting of four or five tiers of 
branches, very close together in almost true whorls. The foliage 
is very thick and the leaves thick and leathery. It exudes 
a mass of gamboge-like latex as soon as slashed, and the slash 
is orange-red. The latex solidifies on exposure to the air. 
The large pear-shaped fruit has a soft rind, which usually is 
pierced by the fall to the ground, and the Cola-shaped seeds 
are embedded in a soft, yellowish-white pulp. The large sepals 
at the base of the flower are quite typical, in their persistency 
often being found at the base of unripe fruit. 
