285 



Vernac. names. — Aridan (Lagos, Abeokuta, Thompson, Punch, 

 Dawodu) ; Igmiokkra or Igmiakia (Benin, Thompson, Unwin) ; 

 Osshosha (Ibo, Thompsoyi, TJnwiri) ; Ogagouma, Ogagoume, or 

 Ogayouma (Gaboon, Be Rochebrune, Moloney) ; Muanza (Golungo 

 Alto, Welwitsch) ; Cuspira (St. Thomas, Welwitsch) ; Prekese (Gold 

 Coast, Thompson) ; Bokumake (Cameroon, Bilsgen). 



The pods are used, roasted and ground, in the preparation of 

 " black soup " in Old Calabar and elsewhere, a common native dish. 

 No alkaloids or cyanogenetic glucosides have been found in the pods, 

 but the soft pulp contains sugar, tannin and a small quantity of 

 " saponin " (Col. Rep. Ann. No. 601, 1909, p. 44, and No. 630, 1909, 

 p. 40). 



Used for washing in Sierra Leone and other parts of the West Coast. 



The wood is used by the natives for making doors, windows, and 

 benches (Thompson, List of For. Trees, S. Nig. 1910, p. 4). 



Ref. — " Tetrapleura Thonningii" in Toxicologic Africaine, De 

 Rochebrune, ii. fasc. 1, pp. 138-144, Botanique, Historique, Chimie, 



Physiologie, Therapeutique (Paris, 1898). " Tetrapleura TJwn- 



ningii" in Les Veg. Util. de l'Afrique Trop. Chevalier, Perrot & 



Gerard, iii. pp .130-133. " Tetrapleura TTionningii" Harms, in 



Notizblatt, App. xxi. No. 2, 1911, pp. 20-22. 



PROSOPIS, Linn. 



Prosopis juliflora, DC. Prodr. ii. p. 447. 



A tree up to 50 feet in height, with trunk a foot or more in dia- 

 meter. Leaves deciduous. Flowers small, 1 lin. long, greenish 

 white, fragrant. Pods 4 to 9 in. long, constricted, containing 10 to 20 

 small, brown, somewhat elliptical seeds. 



III. — Kunth, Voy. Humb. and Bonpl. Mimosa, t.*33 (P. horrida), 

 t. 34 (P. dulcis) ; Desc. Ant. viii. t. 550 {Mimosa juliflora) ; East- 

 wood, Trees California, t. 42, f. 1 ; Sargent, Silva N. America, iii. 

 tt. 136-137 ; U.S. Dept, Agric. Div. Entom. N.S. Bull. No. 1, 1895, 

 t. 7 ; Queensland Agric. Journ. vi. 1900, t, 186 (habit). 



Cashaw, Algaroba, Mesquit Bean, Honey Locust, Honey Pod. 



Native of the West Indies and Cent. America. 



The pods are a good food for cattle, horses and pigs, though death 

 has resulted on occasion after eating damp or undried pods, owing, it 

 has been suggested, to the germination or swelling of the seed in the 

 stomach. They are an important article of food with the Indians 

 and Mexicans, who grind them into flour for baking purposes, and 

 also to make a weak beer. A healthful beverage is made from the 

 fresh pods. A gum which exudes from the stem and branches has 

 similar properties to those of " Gum Arabic " (Hough, American 

 Woods, vi. p. 28). 



The wood is hard and durable ; weight 62 lbs. per cubic foot ; used 

 in Jamaica for fence posts, footing telegraph posts, railway sleepers, 

 boat-knees, fuel and for making charcoal (West Indian Bull. ix. 

 1909, p. 302) ; used in America for fence posts, and railway ties, 

 fellies of heavy wheels, paving streets, furniture, firewood, and for 

 making charcoal ; specific gravity 07652— 47*69 lbs. per cubic foot 

 (Sargent, Silva, N. America, iii. p. 103). 



This tree was recommended by Kew in 1887 for cultivation in 

 Lagos and other West African Settlements. 



It grows freely from seed, and when once established requires 



