THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 371 
typically so. The branches tend to flatten out in old age, 
though they are slightly pendulous at the tips. The bole 
reaches a girth of about 10 feet and a height of 50 feet. The 
light patchy, orange-coloured bark is a most typical feature 
of this tree. Satinwood is the only one at all similar in 
this respect, but it is much smoother. 
Timber.—White, with a faint yellow tint ; the pores are much 
shorter than those of the other Terminalias, such as 7’. scutifera 
and Togoensis. The grain on the whole is finer and of closer 
texture. The timber is somewhat harder than either 7’. scutifera 
or T. sp., but not so hard as that of 7. Togoensis. It planes 
well, takes nails, saws easily, but does not split so well. It is 
attacked by termites, but is durable for interior work. It is 
somewhat more brittle than 7. sp. 
It is a moderately rapid growing, light-demanding tree, with 
soil-protecting and soil-improving qualities. Natural regenera- 
tion does not appear to be good. It sprouts, but poorly 
from the stump, and if at all shaded dies away. It likes 
a moderately good soil, with a fair amount of moisture and 
depth. 
The timber has not been cut for export, and only occasionally 
has it been felled for cutting into planks for local use. It 
deserves, however, a trial as a local flooring board. The avail- 
able quantities so far discovered are not large enough to justify 
its trial as an export wood. 
Utility —The wood is used for planks and for canoes. It 
is likely to furnish timber for the home markets. 
Local Use.—It has been used for making canoes, and also 
for sawing up into planks for house-building. 
Terminalia scutifera. Shingle Wood. Afara (Yoruba); Oaha 
Egoyn, Egoyn nufwa (Benin). 
It is a common tree in the Calabar, Ogoja, Owerri, Warzi, 
Benin, Ondo and Abeokuta provinces of Nigeria. 
The chief characteristics of this tree are the thin and far 
up-reaching root flanges and its thin, grey-coloured bark. 
It attains a height of about 200 feet and a girth of about 
16 feet. The bole length often exceeds 100 feet. The crown is 
compressed and flat, with few main branches. It is usually 
found near water. 
The timber is light-brown to almost yellowish-white, with 
darker streaks. The sapwood is almost white, but when dry 
is barely distinguishable from the heartwood, though when 
freshly cut the heartwood appears drier, and thus shows up 
against the damper sapwood. The wood is soft and planes 
easily, though not always giving a smooth surface. It is also 
