408 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 
It is a medium-sized tree of the mixed forest zone, which 
is moderately prevalent in certain localities. 
The timber is brown, hard and durable. It planes well 
and splits moderately well. It takes nails and saws moderately 
easily for hard wood. It is considered termite-proof by 
the natives. 
It is a somewhat slow-growing tree, a shade-bearer, a soil- 
protecting and soil-improving tree. Natural regeneration only 
appears to be slight. It does not sprout very prolifically from 
the stump. No experimental plantations have yet been made. 
This is a sister species to C. Johimbe, which yields the bark 
containing the very useful alkaloid Johimbin, but as yet the 
bark of this tree has not been tested for a similar substance. 
In the timber report of 1906 it is valued at 24d. to 3}d. 
a foot as a species of gummy mahogany, and in another case 
as fancy wood at ld. per superficial foot or 1s. 6d. to Is. 9d. 
a’ cubic foot. 
Amongst the Benin natives it is used for wall-plates, for 
which purpose it is highly esteemed. 
Crossopteryx Kotschyana. Ayeye (Yoruba). 
A small tree found in the dry-zone forests, of no special 
value. The fruit is leathery ; the flowers grow in panicles. 
Native Use.—Parts of the tree are used in medicine by the 
natives. 
Sabicea calycina (Benth.). Agan Aparo (Yoruba). 
Found in Iro. 
Canthium glabriflorum (Hiern). Attan (Benin). 
It is a common tree in the Calabar, Ogoja, Warri, Benin 
and Ondo provinces of Nigeria, also in the Cameroons. 
It is a medium-sized tree, reaching a girth of 9 feet, 
but with a bole length of about 60 feet, rather longer in pro- 
portion to the girth. The flat, wide crown is typical of this 
tree, as are also the large tripinnate leaves and the brown, 
stringy bark with slight fissures. The branches spread out 
almost in two or three whorls near the top of the tree. The 
light can be seen through the crown. The flower is white, in 
large, umbel-like masses of small flowers, borne on the upper 
side of the branches. It flowers in November. 
The sapwood is white and fairly broad and the heartwood 
is brown, like cedar. Termites attack in the open. 
It is a light-lover and grows quickly, in old farms especially. 
It sprouts well from the stump, but there are no root shoots. 
Seed production is good, and seedlings appear in near open 
spaces. 
It has not been cut for local use or exported to Europe. 
