309 



Yields an insoluble gum ; eaten in Kordofan (Muriel, Herb. Kew). 



Timber good, Kordofan (Muriel), exceedingly hard and fairly 

 durable (Thompson, Rep.Meko and Skaki Dist.1910, p. 7) ; impervious 

 to white ant (Elliott, Herb. Kew). 



The ashes of the wood are used by the natives as a mordant for 

 dyeing. 



The bark is used medicinally, and the roots as " chew-sticks " 

 (Thompson, I.e. p. 8 ; Col. Rep. Misc. No. 51, 1908, p. 62, and No. 6Q, 

 1910, p. 89 ; List of For. Trees, S. Nig. 1910, p. 10). 



The tree is very common on alluvial land in the Meko and Shaki 

 district (Thompson, l.c ) ; common throughout the northern part of 

 N. Nigeria (Elliott, Herb. Kew) ; grows up to 50 feet high, Anum 

 Plains, Gold Coast (Johnson, Herb. Kew), and a medium sized tree. 

 Bari, Uganda (Dawe, Rep. Bot. Miss. Uganda, 1906, p. 45). 



LAGUNCULARIA, Gaertn. 



Laguncularia racemosa, Gaertn. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 419. 



III. — Jacq. Icon. Select. Stirp. Am. t. 53 {Gonocarpus racemosus) ; 

 Gaertner, Fruct. Sem. PI. iii. t. 217, f. 2 ; Velloso, Fl. Flum. iv. t. 87 

 (Bucida Buceras) ; Nuttall, N. Amer. Sylva, i. t. 34 ; Sargent, Silva, 

 N. America, v. t. 203 ; Engl. Monogr. Afr. Pflan. Combretaceae (1900), 

 p. 33, f . 5 ; Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. viii. t. 43. 



Niger River ; widely distributed in the Mangrove area in West 

 Africa from Sierra Leone to Loanda. Found also in Central America 

 under similar conditions. 



White Mangrove, White Button Wood, Red Mangrove of Cuba 

 (Fosalba, seq.). 



The bark is described as thin and papery, of light brown colour, 

 splitting readily into two portions, the inner layer smooth, and the 

 outer rough and of darker colour. The leather produced is said to be 

 excellent and similar in quality to that produced by oak bark. 

 Samples from British Honduras have been valued at £3 per ton, and 

 the extract, provided it retained the good colour and weight-giving 

 qualities characteristic of the bark, would sell readily in this country 

 (Bull. Imp. Inst. 1907, p. 345). 



Bark from British Honduras has been found to contain 12*3 per 

 cent. (I.e.), and that from Cuba 24 per cent, of tannin. Upwards of 

 5000 metric tons of the bark and leaves were shipped from Havana 

 in 1905, destined for the United States, Russia and Germany. The 

 price on the Havana markets is given at 105 fr. 30 for bark and 

 67 fr. 40 for leaves per metric ton (Fosalba, L'Agric. prat, pays 

 chauds, vi. 2, 1906, p. 522). 



There seems to be no doubt that this bark as a tanning material is 

 more reliable than that of the Red Mangrove {Ilhizophora racemosa), 

 but it is doubtful whether the tannin percentage is sufficiently 

 large and constant to make it suitable for export. 



The wood is heavy, hard, strong and close-grained, specific gravity 

 of dry wood 0*7137 or 44*48 lbs. a cubic foot (Sargent, Silva, N. 

 America, v. p. 29) ; 44 lbs. per cubic foot is the recorded weight of 

 a sample from British Honduras (Belize Estate and Produce Co. 

 Mus. Kew). 



Ref. — " Note sur le Manglier rouge {Conocarpus racemosa)" 

 Fosalba, in L'Agric. pratique pays chauds, vi. 2, J 906, pp. 521-523. 



