87 



The fruits contain a silky fibre similar to Kapok {Eriodendron 

 anfractuosum). The Yorubas use a decoction of the bark as an 

 emmenagogue, and a powder made from the prickles mixed with 

 oil as a remedy for " craw-craw " : — a common skin disease (Mill- 

 son, Kew Bull. 1891, p. 215). In Kontagora the bark is used 

 mixed with tobacco flowers to improve the appearance of the 

 teeth (Dalziel, Bull. Imp. Inst. 1907, p. 263). 



The wood is soft and light, and is used by the natives of French 

 Guinea for planks, doors, canoes, tom-toms, and household utensils 

 (Pobeguin, Fl. Gain. Franc, p. 37). 



Cultivation could probably be carried out on the same lines as 

 that of Eriodendron (q.v.). The tree flowers in December and 

 January (Elliott, Barter, Herb. Kew), before the end of the 

 Harmattan (Dalziel, I.e.). 



Bombax reflexum, Sprague, in Journ. Linn. Soc. xxxvii. p. 500 ; 

 [B. buonopozensis, Hiern, Cat. Welw. Afr. PI. i. p. 80, non Beauv.] 



A deciduous tree, about 90-100 feet high ; trunk 4-10 feet in 

 diameter. Leaflets oblanceolate, acuminate. Calyx pubescent 

 outside. Petals 2^-3 inches. Stigmas reflexed. 



Vernac. name. — Obokha (Benin, Unwiri): 



Benin ; known also from Uganda and Angola. Barter on his 

 specimen (No. 731, Herb. Kew) drew a distinction between two 

 trees : one 40 feet high, flowering in December (in Borgu and 

 Nupe), and the other (which he did not collect) 100 feet high, 

 flowering in April (at Onitsha). The latter may have been 

 B. reflexum, and material of Bombax from Onitsha would be 

 acceptable at Kew. 



The general information given under B. buonopozense may 

 apply to B. reflexum, although Unwin (No. 184, Mus. Kew) 

 mentions that the tree is not used in the Benin district. 



Eriodendron, DC. 



Eriodendron orientale, Steud. Nomencl. Ed. 2, I. p. 587. 



\_E. anfractuosum, Mast, in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. i. (1868), p. 214 ; 

 E. anfractuosum, var. indicum, DC. Prodr. i. (1824), p. 479 ; var. 

 africannm, I.e. ; Bombax pentandrum, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 

 p. 959 ; Ceiba Casearia, Hiern, Cat, Welw. Afr. PI. i. (1896), p. 80; 

 Ceiba pentandra, Gaertn. ; Engl. & Prantl, Pflan. iii. (1895), 

 pt. 6, p. 63.] 



///.— Rheede, Hort. Mai. iii. tt, 49-51 ; Rumpf, Amb. i. t. 80 ; 

 Lam. Encvcl. t. 851 ; Bot. Mag. t. 3360 ; Wight, Ic. PI. Ind. or. ii. 

 t. 400 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. (Anal. Gen.), t. 4, f . 2 ; Blanco, Fl. Filip. 

 t. 238 ; Vidal, Fl. For. Filip. t. 17a ; Greshoff, Nutt. Ind. PI. t. 42 ; 

 De Wildeman, PI. Util. Congo, t. 29 ; L'Agric. prat, des pays 

 chauds, 1905, p. 24 (group of trees), p. 27 (fruit), p. 33, f. 1 (fibre 

 magnified) ; Pobeguin, Fl. Gnin. Franc, t. 18 ; Brandis, Indian 

 Trees, p. 77 (E. anfractuosum). 



Vernac. names. — Eggun (Lagos, Foster, Dawodu) ; Okha (Benin, 

 Unwin); Akbo (Ibo, Thompson): Rimi (Kontagora, Dalziel); 

 Mal'uma, Maf unieira \ Suma-I T ina (Angola, Welwitsch) ; Kapok 

 (Dutch) ; Fromager (French Guinea). — Cotton Tree ; White 

 Silk Cotton. 



