388 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 
Diospyros xanthoryplamys. Okahimi (Benin). 
This is one of the Benin ebonies and is not very prevalent. 
It is said to yield a good ebony. 
Maba Manniti. Benin Maba. 
It is a common tree in the Benin and Ondo provinces of 
Nigeria. It only reaches a girth of 4 feet and a short bole 
of about 10 feet. It is much branched, even low down, the 
branches being persistent and crooked. The leaves are small, 
rather less than ebony itself. The leaf is really a long, 
pinnate one, with thirty pairs of pinnz. The fruit is white, 
soft and oblong, with small seeds. 
The tree has a white sapwood with a black heartwood, 
rather small in proportion to the size of the stem. It does 
not split well. Termites do not attack it, but occasionally the 
gigas borers make holes in it. It grows slowly and stands a 
good deal of shade. It sprouts well from the stool and the 
seed also grows fairly well. It grows in the damp, deep soil 
and does not stand fire at all. It belongs to the evergreen 
forest zone. 
This tree has not been cut for local use or exported to Europe. 
It is used as firewood, and is considered better than most other 
woods, even Ohia, Celtis ap. 
Oleacee. 
Schrebera Golungensis. Hard Yellow Wood. Opele (Yoruba) ; 
Udegwoga (?) (Benin). 
It is found in the Abeokuta province of Nigeria, Olokemeji 
and Ilaro Reserves. 
It is a large tree, reaching a girth of about 10 feet. The 
smooth, light-green. bark with yellow patches differs from the 
Celtis species, which is rougher, and the Afrormosia species, which 
is orange-red and peels off. The leaves are small for the size 
of the tree. The crown is narrow and long and the branches 
forming it slender. The curious small pear-shaped dehiscent 
fruit, showing four oblong niches for seeds, is most typical of the 
tree. In other respects the habit and build of the tree is similar 
to the Celtis species, especially with the root spurns slightly 
corrugating the base of the bole. It is not a common tree, 
but usually a fair number of specimens are seen in any locality 
where it has been found. The bole is very straight and free 
from branches for quite a height of the tree. 
The timber is a dull-yellow colour, fine grain, of smooth 
texture and moderately hard. It planes to a smooth, 
almost shining surface. It scarcely shrinks or warps when 
drying. 
