in diameter, covered with brittle, bronze hairs which break off when
handled. The stalk is long and stout and the calyx remains at the base
are broken and hardened. There is a short woody “nose.” A number of
kidney-shaped seeds are embedded in a white, crisp, acid and slightly
refrigerant pulp, pleasant to taste when fresh, and fibres separate
the rows of seeds. The seeds are grey with a brown patch, intricately
veined. They are very hard. The pulp is called “garin kuka,” the seeds
“guntsu.”
=Uses.=—The leaves are used as a sauce in soup and food, called “Miyan
(or) Garin Kuka.” They are given also, with bran and salt as a horse
medicine, called “chusar doki.”
The inner bark is stripped and twisted into strong ropes “kista,”
tethering ropes “gindi,” and strings of musical instruments. The acid
pulp is eaten fresh.
[Illustration]
=ADINA MICROCEPHALA= Hiern.—_Kadanyar rafi_. RUBIACEAE.
This is a large tree inhabiting stream banks which extends as far
north as 12°. It attains a height of 60 feet with a girth of 6-8 feet,
occasionally more. It has a habit of growing right in the beds of small
streams where it is washed annually by the flood waters. In these
situations the trunk will assume almost a horizontal position at the
base and survive severe damage. Except in dense stream bank vegetation
the bole is rarely clean, but is covered with slender shoots down to
the ground level. The erect willowy shoots are a marked feature of the
tree. It has a large dense crown with heavy limbs, and the rosette-like
growth of the long narrow pointed leaves distinguishes it.
=The Bark= is grey and deeply fissured, often spirally, with long
fibrous ridges and ragged scales which fall in large pieces. The slash
is a deep dull red, with thick spongy fibres, and a sticky sap exudes.
=The Leaves= are some 9 inches long and 1½ inches broad, with tapering
base and long pointed tip. The stalk is an inch long. The upper surface
is a dark, shining green, paler beneath with the mid-rib prominent.
They are whorled and appear like rosettes.
=The Flowers= are borne on 3-inch stalks in the leaf axils from
February to June. Each stalk has a pair of bracts in the middle, or
nearer the head of flowers. These flower-heads are spherical, 1-1¼
inches in diameter, greenish and perfumed. Each separate flower is
tubular, with a short 5-lobed calyx, a long tubular 5-lobed corolla, 5
stamens inserted on the corolla throat and a long, knobbed pistil. The
corolla tube is pinkish, the tips of the lobes mauve, and the calyx is
green, red inside at the base.
=The Fruits= are in spherical heads, greatly resembling those of
_Mitragyne africana_. Each is a small capsule which parts down the
middle into two cocci which contain a number of minute seeds, winged at
both ends.
=Uses.=—The timber is suitable for all kinds of furniture and joinery
work.
[Illustration]
=AFRORMOSIA LAXIFLORA= Harms.—_Makarfo, Kariye gatari_. LEGUMINOSAE.
A small or medium-sized tree very common in bush or tree savannah,
averaging 30 feet in height, but attaining 50 feet, with girths of 3-6
feet. The bole, though frequently of good length, is rarely straight,
in fact it is a characteristic of this species that the bole is bent
and twisted and that the branches show this feature to the tips. It is
like a large edition of _Stereospermum Kunthianum_ (Sansame). The crown
is high, rounded and open, giving little shade. The bark is the most
ready means of identification.
=The Bark= is all colours, grey, green, bluish and brown in patches,
the large scales falling entire like those of the plane tree and
leaving deeply indented scars which gradually change colour. The slash
is a rich yellow with a thin green bark edging.
=The Wood= is very dark brown. In transverse section the rings are
clearly marked dark lines of varied width, rarely circular. The pores
are small, in chains and festoons connected by soft tissue which
shows as flecks in the dark hard tissue. The rays are fine and almost
straight, invisible to the unaided eye and visible as short light bands
in radial section, in which section the grain is banded and straight.
In tangential section the grain is mottled, almost figured. The wood
is hard, not easy to saw or plane but capable of being worked up to a
rather oily finish which takes a polish. It has a not unpleasant smell.
In seasoning it has been noticed that numerous radial and concentric
cracks occurred but that these closed up and became quite invisible
even under a lens. The weight is 50 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are pinnate, 9 inches long with an average of 11 alternate
leaflets which are oval, slightly cleft, 2 inches long and 1 inch
broad, increasing in size upwards, with shiny surface and short stout
stalks.
=The Flowers= are in small racemes amongst the leaves at the twig
ends. They are inconspicuous and appear from May to July. Each has 4
green sepals, 5 greenish-white petals, 10 stamens in the keel, not all
fertile and a prominent, flattened pistil. They are ½ inch long.
=The Fruits= are pods from 2-4 inches long and an inch broad, brown
with a paler edge, shiny, with veined surface and slightly embossed
seeds. The 1-3 seeds are round, flat, light brown and have a white
hilum, and are ⅜ inch long. The pods are persistent on the tree till
the following rains.
=Uses.=—The wood is used for axe and hoe handles, its excessive
hardness giving it the name of “kariye gatari” or “break the axe.”
Concoctions of the bark and roots are used medicinally.
[Illustration]
=AFZELIA AFRICANA= Smith.—_Kawo_. LEGUMINOSAE.
A species which is more locally than generally common and in some
forests found very evenly distributed throughout large areas. Large
timber specimens, as found in the south, are rarely met with, as the
form of the typical northern specimens is one having a short, thick
bole with a girth of 6-10 feet, large spreading limbs forming a wide,
rather flat-topped crown with dense foliage and good shade. Forty feet
is an average height for such full-grown trees. It is comparatively
rare in the extreme north, but especially common in parts of the
central and southern provinces of the north. At a distance it can be
distinguished by the brilliant green of its foliage, which, though
apparently dense, is actually very superficial and can be seen through
in somewhat the same manner as can _Chlorophora excelsa_. It attains
its full size in “kurmis” or on the slopes of well-watered hills.
=The Bark= is grey and flakes off in large, uneven-edged scales which
leave distinctive, light patches. The slash is pale red and of a
crumbling composition.
=The Wood=, when freshly cut is a light brown with distinct orange
tint, which always remains, even when the timber has darkened to the
deep red brown after seasoning. The sapwood is white or yellowish,
generally the latter, the orange of the pores enhancing this. In
transverse section the rings are indistinctly marked, but the soft
tissue, in unusual quantities, is clearly seen, as are the pores,
which are large, rather far apart, some single, or in small nests,
or in lines. The rays, not visible to the naked eye, are continuous
and regularly spaced, readily visible in radial section. The grain is
inclined to pick up in bands, it being by no means an easy wood to work
with, but the resulting finish is well worth the trouble required. It
is hard, durable and strong, and weighs from 55-60 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are pinnate, about a foot long with 6-8 pairs of opposite,
shiny, dark-green leaflets, 3½ inches long and 2½ inches broad. They
are a most brilliant green when new.
=The Flowers= are in stiff, flat panicles and appear in March.
Each flower has four dark-green cupped sepals, one long petal,
cream-coloured with red lines, seven fertile stamens, two infertile
stamens and a long, dark-green style.
=The Fruits=, which ripen about December or January, are large, hard,
black pods, 5-6 inches long, 2½ inches broad and an inch thick, with
a point at the tip. They split in half to disclose about eight large,
black beans, set in a red aril in large, white cells. The pods are
numerous and conspicuous on the trees.
=Uses.=—Planks and mortars are made locally from the wood. Furniture in
small quantities has been made, and except for the weight of the wood,
it is admirably suitable, in colour and texture for this purpose. The
seeds are sold as a charm (fasa daga) and used in the game of “dara.”
The idea is held, in some parts of the country, that if the seeds be
picked from the pod while it is still on the tree and made into “tuwo”
the eating of them will make one safe from an attempted blow with a
stick, which will remain poised, or break with the blow.
The leaves are eaten as fodder by cattle.
[Illustration]
=ALBIZZIA BROWNEI= Oliv.—_Madobiar rafi_. LEGUMINOSAE.
This is a large species of the tree savannah, extending generally by
way of the streams and “kurmis” up to above 11° N. On suitable soils
it can be found in large groups forming a high forest with the crowns
meeting over 60 feet overhead. The bole length is considerable, often
30 feet and the stem is slender and straight. Enormous isolated trees
inhabit the more sheltered “kurmis” and reach a height of 80 feet with
a girth of 12 feet. Such specimens have small root flanges and the
crown is low and of great size, not affording very much shade owing to
the spreading limbs. The large bipinnate leaves of distinctive form and
the big, flat pods are readily recognised.
=The Bark= is greyish-brown, fairly smooth, with square or rectangular
close-fitting scales, larger and rougher in old trees, especially at
the base. The slash is light orange in colour.
=The Wood= is a light red, with streaks and areas of darker and lighter
red and white. In transverse section the rings are well marked and wide
apart, the pores are large, mostly twins or small groups and imperfect
festoons, the soft tissue not linking them up in long lengths. The
rays are fine, wavy and irregular in their spacing, closing up and
separating, showing as red bands in radial and fine stippling in
tangential section. The wood is soft, easy to saw and plane, the finish
being smooth, with a sheen and able to take a polish. The weight is 42
lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are 12-18 inches long, with an average of three opposite
pairs of pinnae 6-7 inches long bearing four, five and six pairs of
leaflets on the lower, middle and upper pinnae respectively. The
leaflets are roughly rectangular in shape due to the curving forward
of the mid-rib and the blade of the leaflet being wider on the inside
at the base and on the outside at the middle. The leaflets increase in
size from the lowest pair to the topmost pair, varying from 1-3 inches
long. They are practically the same dark, rich green above and beneath,
being reddish when young. The mid-rib and nerves are prominent on both
surfaces.
=The Flowers= appear in March and April just as the new leaves are
maturing. They are of both sexes on the same tree and the same shoot,
borne in small heads at the end of numerous long stalks in the leaf
axils, the whole shoot being some 12 inches long. The female is
solitary in the middle of the head in a circle of male flowers which
open slightly later. The female is white and has a corolla of 5-6 lobes
in a tubular 5-lobed calyx, and a large number of radiating styles,
white with black stigmas, like a Sea Anemone in form. The male is much
smaller, with a minute calyx, small tubular corolla of five points,
and a long slender column of bright red stamens with black anthers
radiating in a tuft at the top of the column.
=The Fruits= are large, flat, light mahogany brown pods, up to 8 inches
long and 1½ inches broad, shining and veined, and embossed at the 9-12
seeds which are ⅜ inch long, flat, oval, sharp-edged and dark brown,
with a prominent “horse-shoe” mark. The pods fall and split and the
seeds remain attached alternately to the two halves till blown or
washed out.
[Illustration]
=ALBIZZIA CHEVALIERI= Harms.—_Katsari_. LEGUMINOSAE.
A small tree up to 30 feet in height with a girth of 2-3 feet, common
throughout the northern provinces. Owing to the similarity of its pods
to those of _Acacia macrostachya_, it may be confused with this species
in the dry season when the tree is leafless. The larger leaves, absence
of thorns, corky bark and balls of flowers distinguish it at once on
examination. It has an erect stem, often three or four stems from a low
level, which repeatedly fork and form an open spreading crown, some of
the branches extending widely and inclined to droop with the weight of
the large leaves. The twigs are softly hairy.
=The Bark= is pale grey with a light brown tinge due to the patches
left by the falling scales. It is thickly covered with very soft, corky
scales, rectangular in shape and of greater length than breadth. The
horizontal cuts are very straight and seem to have been done with a
sharp knife. The fallen scales show a reddish colour beneath, which
rapidly turns light brown and finally grey. The surface of the bark
scales is very smooth and silvery.
=The Wood= is medium weight, rather light yellow, with a marked, long,
straight grain, alternate yellow and white. The pores are very long,
the rings very close. Planes and saws well, with a sheen in places.
=The Leaves= are about 9 inches long, bipinnate with some 10-15 pairs
of pinnae, each having from 10-20 leaflets. The leaflets are broad,
sharply pointed and uneven in shape, the inner portion being much
narrower than the outer, whilst the inner edge is almost straight and
the outer curved to the tip; they overlap and are inclined towards the
tip of the pinna, whose main rib has a small extension between the
top-most pair. The leaves are slightly sensitive and close at night
and very shortly after they are gathered. The main rib of the leaf has
purple blotches on its upper surface and is covered with very short
hairs. The leaf is smooth with a waxy surface and much darker above
than below.
=The Flowers=, which appear in April are in spherical heads of about
thirty together, borne on a 2½ inch stalk. Each flower has a small
5-lobed reddish calyx, 5 small reddish petals and some 18 stamens which
are an inch long, very slender, white, gradually becoming green towards
the anthers. There is a 1½ inch long pistil, also becoming green
towards the tip. The flowers are sweet scented, blooming at night.
=The Fruits= are pods from 3-6 inches long and ¾ inch wide, and vary in
size according to number of seeds and in colour from a very light brown
with a pinkish tinge to an uniform light red-brown colour. They are
flat and the seeds embossed, the edges of the pod being straight and
not indented between the seeds. The whole surface is covered with very
short hairs and is velvety to the touch. The pods open on the tree or
on the ground, splitting up to the stalk. The seeds are small, round,
flat, and green-brown in colour, and are attached to each half of the
pod alternately by a long stalk, part of which is straight and part
tightly curved into an S next the seed. The pods are ripe in November
and remain, a light crop, till April. There is a fine cellular veining
on the surface.
[Illustration]
=AMBLYGONOCARPUS SCHWEINFURTHII= Harms.—_Tsege, Kiriya ta mata, Kolo_.
LEGUMINOSAE.
This strikingly handsome tree, with a strong resemblance to the
Mountain Ash, is found on poor soils as far as 12½° N., but in the
belts where the soil is better than that of the surrounding country.
Elsewhere further south it occurs throughout the higher savannah
forests, often near streams, where it will grow 60 feet high, but with
a small girth in proportion, not exceeding 5 feet. It averages 30 feet
high, with a long clean bole and high, wide, flat crown of great beauty
from the filtering of light through its bipinnate leaves whose small
round leaflets are set apart, the leaves lying in the horizontal plane.
A 30-feet bole on the larger trees is not uncommon. It gives little
shade. It seems to be very local and where found, occurs over a small
area of country in fair numbers.
=The Bark= is grey or brown, rough, with uneven sized scales, rounded
or polygonal. These leave red scars on falling.
=The Wood= is a rich red-brown, more red than brown. The sapwood is
grey. In transverse section the rings show as darker bands of varied
width and the colour is darker in this section. The pores are numerous,
in festoons of various lengths, or single, and a few nests, the whole
densely and evenly distributed and the soft tissue plainly visible
to the unaided eye as waves and specks in the dark hard tissue. The
rays are straight, unevenly spaced, some being only the width of a ray
apart, others far apart, some visible to the naked eye. The vertical
section shows bands of colour and long dark pores. The wood is very
hard, difficult to saw and picks up in bands under the plane, but the
finished surface is smooth and will take a high polish. The weight is
60 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are bipinnate, 10 inches long, with 2-5 pairs of opposite
or sub-opposite pinnae bearing 8-16 alternate leaflets, broad oval,
flat tipped, pale blue-green, on light brown stalks, each ¾ inch long
and ½ inch broad. They spring from the ends of erect twigs and lie in
the horizontal plane. The leaflets are set apart and do not touch or
overlap.
=The Flowers=, which appear in March, are in spikes, 2-3 inches long,
crowded with white, scented flowers. Each flower has five small white
petals with acute tips, ten white stamens with yellow anthers and a
white pistil. They are not very conspicuous as they are partly hidden
amongst the foliage.
=The Fruits= are large four-angled pods, the suture angle rounded.
They are 4 inches long and 1½ inches broad, brown, pendulous on a 3
inch long stalk. They contain 6-10 seeds, roughly four-angled, pointed
at one end. These lie across the length of the pod and ripen about
December. They are ¾ inch long.
[Illustration]
=ANDIRA INERMIS= H. B. K.—_Gwaska, Madobia_. LEGUMINOSAE.
A large tree occurring near streams in Bauchi, Sokoto and Zaria
provinces. It is also found in the forests where the conditions are
moist enough, and is not at all uncommon amongst the rocks on the
Bauchi plateau. It rarely has any length of bole, the crown almost
reaching the ground and the stem being bent or leaning. The crown is
dense and the branches droop at the end. A height of 30-40 feet with a
girth of 4-5 feet is usual. The foliage much resembles that of _Khaya
senegalensis_, from a distance, but has a brilliant sheen.
=The Bark= is brown or grey-brown, roughish, with scales an inch or two
in diameter fitting close together.
=The Leaves= are pinnate, 10-18 inches long with 5-7 pairs of opposite
or nearly opposite leaflets and a terminal leaf. The smallest at the
base are 1½ inches long and ¾ inch wide; the largest in the middle
are 3½ inches long and 1½ inches wide. The edges are parallel and
there is a sharp taper to a cleft tip. The basal lobes are uneven and
the leaflets vary much in shape. The terminal leaflet is broader in
proportion to its length than the lateral leaflets and the margins
are not parallel. There are small stipules at the base of each stalk.
The surface on both sides is shining and the new leaves are a most
brilliant green. The mid-rib is below the upper surface but raised
beneath.
=The Flowers= which bloom from March to May are in loose panicles up to
2 feet in length and in such numbers as to show up from a considerable
distance. The blossom is very ornamental. The flower is papilionaceous
with a large pink standard and white keel. A species of small black ant
swarms over the flowers at times.
=The Fruits= resemble large walnuts and hang in bunches on long stalks
like mangoes. They are ovoid, 2-3 inches long and 2 inches across, with
a thick, fibrous, green-brown case containing two white kernels one
above the other. They ripen about September. There is the line of a
suture down one side, and the surface is uneven.
[Illustration]
=ANOGEISSUS LEIOCARPUS= Guill. & Perr.—_Marike_. COMBRETACEAE.
This is perhaps the most evenly and widely distributed of all trees,
extending from the southern rain belt to the extreme north of Nigeria,
and over the border into French territory north of Sokoto, where some
of the largest examples of the northern provinces are to be found. A
height of 70 feet with girths of 6-8 feet is common. As regards the
situations most favourable to this species, level country with deep
soil and average rainfall is preferred, and considerable areas of such
country are found occupied almost entirely by it, both as full grown
trees and saplings in dense thickets. These latter are especially
valuable for the production of forked poles (gofa) for building
purposes, and are transported great distances owing to their great
durability and comparative resistance to White Ants. The species is
readily distinguished at a distance by its feathery, birch-like foliage
and drooping branches, which, at first acutely ascending, bend over and
droop in graceful curves. A light-demander, its branches are extremely
persistent on the stem and only where it is very densely grown,
preferably with an admixture of shade-bearing species, will clean boles
be found. Examples grown in the open, or suddenly freed from the forest
by the clearing for cultivation, are covered with small twigs and the
foliage extends almost to ground level. Large specimens in forest have
clean boles, generally forking at no great height, with wide-spreading,
open crowns.
=The Bark= varies according to habitat. That of specimens in dense
forest is fairly smooth with small, brown scales, but as generally seen
in the north is a very light grey with long scales which turn up at the
ends before falling, giving the tree a ragged appearance, with large,
lighter patches. A dark gum exudes from the bark, very inferior as an
adhesive as it is cloudy when made up into solution. The slash is pale
yellow with thin dark lines.
=The Wood= is a dark, dull, smoky brown, sometimes almost black, with
reddish streaks. The sapwood is grey or dirty white. In transverse
section the rings are seen as dark bands, the pores are minute and
densely distributed in small groups, chains and festoons of various
sizes, with single pores between, the soft tissue sparse and hardly
connecting the pores. The rays are extremely fine and close together.
In vertical section the grain is very fine and the pores have
glistening contents. It is a very hard wood, difficult to work with all
tools, often knotty, picking up in bands, but will polish, even on the
transverse section. The weight is 64 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are on long, slender, drooping twigs, and are oval,
slightly darker above than below with a silky pubescence which is most
marked in the young foliage. They tend to assume one plane. Length 2-3
inches, breadth 1 inch.
=The Flowers= are little cream-coloured, scented balls, ⅜ inch diam.,
from February on. Each has a 5-pointed calyx, 10 erect stamens, a
short, straight pistil, round the base of which is a ring of reddish
hairs. They are very inconspicuous.
=The Fruits= are small, rough, cone-like balls of irregularly
serrated-edged seeds, packed horizontally. They are green in the seed
and brown in the wing portion. They ripen about December and are about
¾ inch.
=Uses.=—The wood is burnt entire and the fine, white ash used for
fixing dyes. The ash is also used for washing white garments. The
roots are used as “Chew-sticks” for cleansing the mouth and teeth. The
saplings and branches produce forked poles (gofa) for building. The
bark yields a dark, inferior gum. The seeds are a cure for worms in
horses. The leaves, mixed with salt, make a yellow dye.
[Illustration]
=ANONA SENEGALENSIS= Pers.—_Gwandar daji_. “_Custard Apple_.” ANONACEAE.
A very common shrub, averaging some 10-12 feet in height, sometimes
a small tree, in suitable situations exceeding 20 feet; very widely
distributed and found everywhere except in the extreme north. The
distinguishing features are the oval, bluish leaves, the waxy, yellow
flowers and the familiar orange-coloured fruits. It has no particular
form.
=The Bark= is normally light, silvery grey, smooth, with marked
horizontal cuts round the stem, having the appearance of joints. Older
or exposed stems, especially those subject to fire, become darker and
roughly scaly. The slash is a dull, pale pink.