THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 403 
The bole is very straight, and not unlike that of real African 
Oak in appearance. The leaves are rounded and moderately 
large, and inclined to be leathery in texture, with two stipules 
at the base. In the young seedlings the stem is more quad- 
rangular in shape than round, and there are a few almost 
straighter furrows running vertically up it. 
It tends to spread with the opening up of the evergreen 
forest. The root spurns are very slight and round, merging 
into the stem a foot or so above the ground. The slash is 
yellowish-white, and a rather dirty colour. Mucilage-like latex 
gradually exudes from the cut. 
Timber.—The wood is very durable indeed, both for exposed 
places and for interior work. It is moderately hard, a little 
open and fibrous in grain, of a yellow to orange colour, 
with slight variations in its distribution through the wood. It 
planes well and saws easily ; splits fairly well, takes nails, and 
does not warp or shrink very much. There is only a slight 
difference in colour between the sapwood and heartwood, but 
the sapwood is not quite so durable. It is termite-proof. It 
is usually very straight-grained, free of knots and other internal 
defects—in fact, it is one of the cleanest of all the African 
timbers. 
It is a very fast-growing, at first slightly shade-bearing and 
later light-loving tree, which thoroughly protects and enriches 
the soil with its leaf fall. In fact, after the first two years it 
is very impatient of shade, and grows very slowly, if it is at all 
under large trees. In suitable places natural regeneration is 
very good. Fair crops of seeds are borne almost every year. In 
some places, notably north of the Ikoha in the Benin province, 
it is almost gregarious in habit. It sprouts well from the stump. 
Here again, unless there is sufficient light, it does not grow 
rapidly, and even tends to die down. In the nursery, seeds 
generate readily, but often fall a prey to the Duika, which eat 
the young seedlings. The tree does not stand transplanting 
very well, as it throws back its development very considerably. 
Small plantations have been made in one or two places. Close 
planting appears to be the correct method, as the branches 
are rather persistent and liable to form knots or places of 
decay in the stem, if they do not drop off when they are quite 
small. 
In 1906 samples of this timber were sold as a hardwood in 
Liverpool market, where it was considered to show little or 
no merit. However, since that date there have been increased 
demands for all good timbers, so that it seems worthy of a 
further trial. Locally it has been used for making canoes, or 
