limber 8, 



406 



[May, 1910. 



has actually occurred fairly recently in 

 two instances near Aburi. In some cases 

 the natives in clearing the forest leave 

 some of the largest trees as standards, 

 and on such grounds a tangled mass 

 of vegetation springs up. Conspicuous 

 among trees in such secondary growth is 

 the " umbrella tree," Mussanga tSmithii, 

 which grows rapidly and has a dense 

 canopy of leaves, and though the value 

 of the forest as far as produce is con- 

 cerned is lost, still the ground is not 

 exposed to the dessicating action of sun 

 and wind or to the force of the rain and 

 the physical effects of complete forest 

 destruction do not occur. The umbrella 

 tree, however, has this disadvantage, 

 that owing to its dense shade the growth 

 of more valuable species is delayed. 



At the commencement of chapter ii., 

 useful information is given as to some 

 of the more important timber trees, such 

 as Piptadenia africana, Triplochiton 

 Johnsonii, Terminalia superba, and of 

 the shingle trees, the Khayas, Sarcoce- 

 phalus esculentus, and others. Of the 

 " Waw-waw " Triplochiton Johnsonii, 

 Mr. Thompson remarks : " It is quite 

 good enough in quality to replace the 

 imported pitch-pine and it is extremely 

 abundant ; cur West African forests con- 

 tain sufficient supplies not only to meet 

 large demands for it in the home mar- 

 kets, but also in the local ones." 



Chlorophora excelsa, " Odoum," fur 

 nishes the best all-rouud timber in Tropi- 

 cal West Africa, it is plentiful in 

 Ashanti ; among other trees of first im- 

 portance are the West African cedars of 

 the genus Pseudocedrela, 



The genus KJmya, the Gold Coast 

 mahogany, is represented by several 

 species ; five are figures in the report. 

 It is unfortunate that the species known 

 as " Dubini " by the Fantis has not yet 

 been properly determined owing to lack 

 of sufficient material, since it is stated 

 that the bulk of the Gold Coast maho- 

 gany is afforded by this species. 



In addition to Piptadenia ajricana, 

 a common timber tree, there is another 

 species figured in the report under the 

 name of Piptadenia sp., a timber tree of 

 some importance and very prevalent in 

 Southern Ashanti. 



Since the publication of the report 

 this species has been identified with 

 Cylicodiscus gabunensis, Harms, a plant 

 which was, until lately, very impefectly 

 known. Cylicodiscus was originally des- 

 cribed from flowering specimens collect- 

 ed by Soyaux in Gaboon and by Standt 

 in the Cameroons, whilst the fruits 

 served for the basis of another new 

 genus, Cyrtoxiphus, and it was not until 

 1906 that Harms recognised that the 



latter represented the fruiting condition 

 of the former. The genus Cylicodiscus 

 differs from Piptadenia firstly in the 

 presence of a disc inserted between the 

 stamens and the base of the gynophore, 

 and secondly in the very long woody 

 pods. C. gabunensis was also discovered 

 in Southern Nigeria by Dr. Unwin and 

 Mr. Foster, and its area extends evident- 

 ly throughout the greater part of the 

 West African forest region. 



A good timber which also yields a 

 first-class fuel is the " Kokoti," to which 

 the name Pyncertia ealainsis is given in 

 the report. A note on this tree appear- 

 ed in the Kew Bulletin, 1909, pp. 309-312, 

 in which it is shewn that this tree, a* 

 member of the natural order Rhizo- 

 phoracece should be referred to Bngler's 

 genus Anopyxis and should bear the 

 name Anopyxis ealcensis. 



Mr. Thompson points out the wealth 

 of the Ashanti forests, which contain 

 large quantities of Pseudocedrelas, Kha- 

 yas, Funtumias, and other valuable trees. 

 He is of the opinion that a special effort 

 should be made to protect these forests 

 and bring them under organised Control. 

 It is perhaps fortunate that at present 

 the mass of this forest area is not easily 

 accessible. 



Of these forests in general he remarks : 

 "I think that in number and variety of 

 valuable trees these extensive forests of 

 Western Ashanti will be hard to match 

 anywhere in Africa. Moreover, the 

 undergrowth is not so dense as that 

 prevailing in evergreen forests to be 

 met with uear the coast, and in conse- 

 quence the natural generation of the 

 more important species is far more satis- 

 factory and the gaps in the various age 

 gradations less pronounced. 



The Savanah forests of North- Western 

 Ashanti appear to be in greater need of 

 forest conservancy in some ways than 

 the forests of the moist regions, since 

 they form the belt between the open 

 grass land and the country where there 

 is greater moisture. It is in this region 

 of mixed deciduous forests that fire 

 protection is an essential feature of 

 any conservancy programme. The 

 timber in this region is also valuable, 

 including such trees as Khaya sene- 

 galensis, the "dry zone" mahogany, 

 Afzelia africana, and the "dry zone" 

 cedar, Pseudocedrela Kotschyi, all suit- 

 able for the home market. As 

 mentioned before, the proper preser- 

 vation of such forest areas as these is 

 intimately bound up with far-reaching 

 questions of water supply. 



In discussing the question of reserved 

 areas Mr. Thompson lays stress on the 

 necessity of reserving the forests cloth' 



