140 



Lagos ; Ifon ; Brass ; Benin ; Cross River ; Nupe. 



The seeds yield an oil known as " Niam Fat " or " Meni Oil." 

 It is used by the natives of Central and West Africa for cooking 

 purposes and as hair oil (Mus. Kew), also in Senegal (Sebire, PI. 

 Util. Senegal, p. 41). 



It h^s been found possible to extract 43 per cent, of oil from the 

 kernels, said to be suitable for soap-making, and for this purpose 

 valued at £24 to £25 per ton. The kernels have been valued at 

 about £10 per ton, c.i.f. at Liverpool (Bull. Imp. Inst. 1908, p. 245 ; 

 a complete analvsis is given p. 244 and p. 367). 



The bark is used by the Hausa and Yoruba troops as a remedy 

 for malarial fever (Fletcher, Herb. Kew). 



The wood is very hard and heavy (specific gravity 1*0208 = about 

 65 lbs. per cubic foot) ; described in the trade as a first-class heavy 

 fancy wood ; used for furniture and turnery (Mus. Kew). 

 Admiralty experts have valued it as better than Teak (Teclona 

 grandis, at about Sd. per foot (Punch, Herb. Kew). The market 

 for this wood being already open it may be snipped without 

 risk. (See Report on Lagos Woods, Stone, Imp. Inst. Journ. 1 902, 

 p. 96 ; and Tech. Rep. & Sci. Papers, Imp. Inst. p. 297.) 



The tree is reported as being confined to the dry open forests of 

 the hinterland, where it is very plentiful (Col. Rep. No. 5 J, 1908, 

 S. Nigeria, p. 41) ; found growing on poor rocky soil between Iwo 

 and Ede (I.e. p. 6) ; observed in Benin Territories (lat. 6°-50 / N. ; 

 long. 5°-50' E.) on an upland plain, at an altitude of probably 

 1000 feet, covered with long grass, over which the trees were 

 scattered like an orchard at home (Fletcher, I.e.) ; very common 

 and characteristic of laterite hills from 500-4000 feet in Sierra 

 Leone (Scott Elliott, Herb. Kew) ; in forests and common in grass 

 fields, Sierra Leone (Smythe, Herb. Kew) ; plentiful in the woods 

 of Madi, Central Africa, where it flowers in December (Grant, 

 Trans. Linn. Soc. xxix. p. 33). 



Ref — " Huile de Mene ou Meni du Senegal et de la Cote 

 occidentale d'Af rique (Lophira alata) " in Ann. Inst. Col. Marseille, 

 i. 1903, pp. 1-12. — " Lophira alata, African Oak," in The Timbers of 

 Commerce and their Identification, Stone, pp. 6-7 (Rider & Son, 

 Ltd., London, 1904). — " Analysis of Fat from Lophira alata Seeds," 

 Edie, in Quarterlv Journ. Inst. Comm. Res. Tropics, Liverpool 

 Univ. Sept. 1907, p. 124.—" The Fruits of Lophira alata," Dr. Drabble, 

 I.e. p. 125. — " Seeds of Lophira alata from Sierra Leone," in Bull. 

 Imp. Inst. 1908, pp. 243-245.—" Zawa Oil from the Sudan," l.c 

 pp. 366-367. 



BURSERACEAE. 

 Commiphora, Jacq. 



Commiphora africanum, Engl, in DC. Monogr. Phan. iv. (1883) 

 p. 14 [Balsamodendron africanum, Am. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. i. 

 p. 325]. 



III. — Guillem. Perr. Rich. Fl. Senegamb. t. 39 (Heudelotia 

 africana) ; Baillon, Adansonia, viii. t. 2 (Balsamodendrum 

 africanum, anatomical, f. 1 transverse section of stem ; f, 2 

 microscopic transverse section, and f. 3 vertical section, consider 

 ably enlarged) ; Holmes, in Pharm. Journ. [4] xxii. p. 257 (Seed). 



