404 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 
has been cut up for planks. It has also been used for bridge- 
building and other constructional work, and being one of the most 
durable, ever wider use is being found for it, quite apart from 
any likely demands for export. 
Native Use.—It is felled for sawing up into planks and making 
canoes, and is considered one of the best of all local timbers, 
except Iroko. 
Sarcocephalus sambucinus (2). Yellow Wood. Opepe (Yoruba) ; 
Ebengiku, Obiache (Benin); Eben (Jekri). 
It is found in the Ondo, Benin and Warri provinces of 
Nigeria. 
It is a medium-sized tree of the swamps, both near rivers 
and near the sea coast—in fact, it will grow in waterlogged 
places—whereas the Sarcocephalus esculentus, to attain large 
dimensions, likes drained soil. 
The fruit is only an inch in diameter, but of the same colour 
as the former. The pitting of the surface is more widely dis- 
tributed and the pits are shallower. The bark is less scaly, with 
a very slight roughness or fissured surface. The wood is not 
so durable as the former, especially in exposed places. On the 
whole, the leaves are larger than 8. esculentus and a little thinner. 
The sapwood is whitish-yellow and the heartwood of a 
deep yellow colour. It is more fibrous and rather more open- 
grained than that of S. esculentus. The pores, too, are longer. 
On the whole, it is easier to work, a little softer, planes well, 
takes nails, splits well and saws easily. It is doubtful if it 
is termite-proof. 
Although really a light-loving tree, it can stand more lateral 
shade than S. esculentus. It is a thoroughly soil-protecting 
and soil-improving tree, the foliage making a very rich 
humus. It is much more slow-growing than S. esculentus, 
though on the whole it will stand closer together, and 
yet grow well. It sprouts well from the stump. Natural 
regeneration appears to be good. It is sometimes almost 
gregarious in habit, and in some places one of the few 
valuable trees in the swamp region. It is also often one 
of the few of merchantable size. No plantations have been 
made with this tree. 
In.1906 samples of this timber were sold in the Liverpool 
market as cedar, but it was only considered of poor quality. 
It deserves, however, further trial now. Locally it is occa- 
sionally sawn up for planks. 
Native Use.—It is sometimes used for making canoes, but 
it is not liked by the natives, because they say it is not so 
durable as S. esculentus. : 
