283 



Vernac. names. — Ogurobe (Lagos, MacGregor) ; Tawasa (Hausa. 

 Dudgeon). 



Nupe ; Lagos. 



The bark steeped with a mixture of natron is given as an aborti- 

 facient (Dudgeon, N. Nigeria Gaz, July 31st, 1909, p. 160). 



Occurs in the dry open forests of S. Nigeria (Thompson, Col. Rep. 

 Misc. No. 51, 1908, p. 6) ; common in all soils Nupe (Barter, Herb. 

 Kew), and in fields at Lagos (MacGregor, Herb. Kew). 



PlPTADENlA, Benth. 



Piptadenia africana, Hook. f. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 328. 



/Z/.— Thompson, Col. Rep. Misc. No. 66, 1910, t. 1G ; Engl, and 

 Drude, Veg. Erde, ix. f. 573. 



Vernac. names. — Ewon (Lagos, Dawodu) ; Aga-Igi (Yoruba, 

 Thompson) ; Ekhimi or Ikhimi (Benin, Thompson) ; Nchoumbou 

 (Gaboon, De Wildeman) ; Ensale (Pahouin, De Wildeman) ; Bolondo 

 (Cameroons, Busgen) ; Kuperf (Sierra Leone, Unwiri) ; Dahomah, 

 Dahumah or Odahuma (Gold Coast, Thompson) ; Ofrafraha (Tarkwa, 

 Gold Coast, Evans) ; Pao Musence or Muzungo or Muneunza 

 (Golungo Alto, Welivitsch); Mpewere (Mabira Forest, Dawe). 



Lagos, Ife and Ilesha Forests, Niger ; common throughout the West 

 Coast of Africa and extending to Uganda. 



The wood is excessively hard and very durable (Thompson, Col. 

 Rep. Misc. No. 51, 1908, p. 27) ; used for planks in S. Nigeria (Bull. 

 Imp. Inst. 1908, p. 154) ; valued at l%d. to l\d. per foot super (List 

 of For. Trees, S. Nig, 1910, p. 3) ; suitable for cabinet work, carpentry, 

 and turnery, but of doubtful value for export. Weight per cubic 

 foot 53-56 lbs. (Bull. Imp. Inst. I.e. pp. 147, 155 ; 1910, p. 236). 

 According to Thompson, however, the timber is excellent and has 

 attracted the attention of timber brokers in the Liverpool market 

 (Col. Rep. Misc. No. 66, 1910, p. 154). This is one of the trees not 

 usually cut down for firewood owing chiefly to the difficulty of 

 splitting into billets (I.e. p. 55). 



Ref. — " Piptadenia africana" Harms, in Notizblatt, App. xxi. 

 No. 2, 1911, pp. 22-25. 



CYLICODISCUS, Harms. 



The genus Cylicodiscus differs from Piptadenia, in having a disc 

 between the stamens and the base of the gynophore, and in the 

 longer pods. 



Cylicodiscus gabunensis, Harms, in Engl. & Prantl. Pflan. Nachtr. 

 i. (1897) p. 192. 



A tree 90-100 feet high (30-40 m., fide Soyaux), glabrous 

 except in inflorescence. Leaves bipinnate, petiole 5-12 lin. long, 

 pinnae unijugate 5£~7£ in. long, each with 5-7 leaflets, leaflets 

 alternate, shortly petioled, ovate to ovate lanceolate, oblique, acumi- 

 nate mucronate at the apex, obtuse or rounded at the base, 1^ — 3-J in. 

 long, 1-lf in. broad. Racemes spiciform, axillary, solitary or terminal 

 panicled, bracts minute, rachis puberulous. Calyx small, campanu- 

 late, shortly 5-toothed, puberulous on the outside. Petals 5, much 

 longer than the calyx, about 1 lin. long, minutely puberulous on the 

 outside. Stamens 10, exeerted. Ovary oblique, shortly and rather 

 densely pilose, stipitate, the base of the stipe glabrous and surrounded 

 by a small cup-shaped disc. Pod compressed, 16-28 in. (or fide 



