868 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 
Rhizophoracez. 
Wethea sp. (Spreng). Odu (Yoruba). 
This tree is found in tropical West Africa. 
The flowers have an involucre of two bracteoles. The 
fruit is fleshy ; seeds with an aril. 
Wethea sp., cf. Africana. Odu (Yoruba) ; Itobo (Ibibio) ; Munon 
(Efik). 
This tree grows near Lagos. 
Rhizophora racemosa. Red Mangrove or Salt Mangrove. Egba 
Ibadudu (Jeb. Yoruba); Ehrodo, Ibadudu (Benin); Odo 
(Jekri). ; 
Poga oleosa. Inoi Nut, African Brazil Nut. Iku (Yoruba); Inoi 
(Benin); Inoye (Efik); Ikoi (Oban); Inoi (Ekoi); Ekom 
(Ibo Owerri) ; Imonon (New Calabar). 
It is found in the Benin (?), Owerri, Calabar and Ogoja (?) 
provinces of Nigeria, in the evergreen zone, both of the level 
and hill country. On the whole, it is more prevalent as the 
eastward side of the country is approached. In the forest its 
presence is usually indicated by the heaps of broken shells 
left lying near the roots of neighbouring trees, on the path or 
roadside. The reddish-brown interior and cross-section of 
the inner covering of the shell is a most typical feature. The 
nut itself is roughly spherical in shape, with a surface almost 
evenly covered with little nodules, giving the nut very con- 
siderable resiliency against cracking. It is nearly half an inch 
thick, and inside there are two or three kernels. Each of 
these is a chocolate-brown colour with thick (almost three 
thirty-seconds to one-eighth of an inch) red-brown shell. Each 
is about 4 inch long and rather more than jinch thick. This 
thick shell quite spoils the flavour of the nut, which is sweeter 
and contains more oil than the Brazil nut. It can, however, 
be removed with a pen-knife. The trunk of the tree is light- 
grey, with comparatively thin cortex. It reaches a girth of 
about 12 feet and a bole length of about 60 feet. It usually 
forks at about 50 or 60 feet from the ground, and this is one of 
the typical features of the tree. The crown is rather open, 
with several main limbs and comparatively few branches. 
Another place where it is commonly seen, both in the Degema 
and Calabar districts, is in the old farms, standing as isolated 
specimens, or standards overshadowing all the secondary 
growth. It is one of the few trees that are preserved when a 
fresh clearing is made for a farm. The fruit is the shape of 
a large greengage, the fleshy part of which soon breaks away, 
leaving the hard nut inside. The fleshy pericarp is about 
a quarter of an inch in thickness. 
