414. WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 
heartwood is used by the natives for planks. It is thought 
rather highly of by the Benin natives, especially for wall-plates 
and joists. In the past it has been only hewn by them, but 
not sawn. , 
Ukpaigwi, Okpaigui (Benin). 
Rather an uncommon tree of the Benin province of Nigeria. 
It grows to 10 feet in girth and yields a soft wood which is 
attacked by white ants. It is a shade-bearer and soil-protecting 
tree. The roots are used by the natives for medicinal purposes. 
Oruru (Benin). 
It is a tree found in the Benin province of Nigeria. 
It is a small tree, reaching a girth of 2 feet. After three 
years it comes up in an old farm. The slash is red and a little red 
sap exudes slowly. It is usual to find thirty small ones in one 
place, from root suckers, but also from stool shoots if a tree has 
been cut down before. It is similar to Eranpata in this respect. 
The fruit is round and small and like peas, only a little larger. 
The flower, which is white and quite small, grows in small clusters. 
The wood is not hard and white all through. It is attacked 
by termites, except when placed in the house, where it is more or 
less protected. 
Reproduction by stool shoot is the best method. 
It is a shade-bearer and grows slowly. It grows in good 
soil of some depth and also in the evergreen forests. When it 
appears in old farms, it stands the fires well. 
It is a soil-improving and soil-protecting tree, and tends 
to spread with the extension of cultivation, especially in the 
evergreen and mixed deciduous forest zone. 
As it does not reach timber size, it is not worth trying as 
a building timber. 
The fruit is edible; after eating it the tongue becomes almost 
of a blue colour. The root is used medicinally. The branches are 
used as pegs in the top of the walls of the houses in Benin, 
partly for fixing the roof. 
