long, slender, pointed, deeply-toothed leaflets. These increase in size
towards the top end of the leaf, the basal pair often being very small
and distinct in shape. The terminal pair are frequently partly united
into one for half or more of their length. The leaflets are sessile,
in colour light green and shining, with the venation raised on both
surfaces.
=The Flowers= appear from January to April, and are in large bunches
of racemes at the tips of the large, blunt twigs. The racemes are
from 6-8 inches long and bear numerous white flowers on ½-¾ inch long
stalks. Each flower is ⅝ inch in diameter with 5 white, pointed petals,
10 stamens whose anthers are bent away from the filament at a side
angle, and a small, blunt pistil. The flower disc is red and the flower
scented.
=The Fruits= are 3-angled capsules, elongated pear-shaped, with
prominent bulges opposite the seeds. They are ¾ inch long and the
stigma remains are present. The capsule splits into three and the small
seeds are released, each with a sharp spike at the top end.
=Uses.=—The gum-resin, being scented, is used for burning in houses, or
fumigating clothes, and as an ingredient in medicine.
[Illustration]
=BRIDELIA FERRUGINEA= Benth.—_Kisni, Kirni_. EUPHORBIACEAE.
A small tree of the Tree and Bush savannahs which does not extend
very far north and will not grow away from fairly good soils. It is
rather shapeless, except occasionally in closer forest, where it may
reach a height of 30 feet with a girth of 3-4 feet. This species and
_B. scleroneura_ are similar in habit, with open, formless crowns,
straggling, drooping limbs covered with numerous, slender, erect
twigs which are apt to be burnt back repeatedly by fires and show
the position of leaves and flowers as prominent clusters at frequent
intervals. The distinguishing features are larger leaves of this
species and the absence of the marked crenate edges.
=The Bark= is dark grey, covered with small, close-fitting, prominent
scales. That of the branches is lighter and covered with rectangular
scales, clearly cut in rows. That of the smaller branches is almost
white with vertical, wavy ridges of cork. The slash is crimson.
=The Wood= is brown and the sapwood is dull white. In transverse
section the rings are clear, fine light lines, the pores are very
small, single, double, or in small festoons, the soft tissue not well
developed. The rays are fine, close, fairly straight and evenly spaced.
In vertical section the grain is coarse, and not very straight and
the wood is easily sawn but hard to plane, picking up in patches. The
weight is 60 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are alternate, assuming one plane. They are 4-5 inches
long and 2¼-2½ inches broad, with slightly waved edges, the nerves
reaching the edge. They are dark green above, olive green beneath, with
the venation very prominent and covered with brownish hairs, especially
on the short stalk and mid-rib.
=The Flowers=, male and female on the same tree are in small, compact
clusters in the leaf axils from March to June. The male flowers have
a calyx of 5 sepals, 5 minute petals and 5 radiating stamens, joined
at the base into a short column. The female flower has the same calyx,
longer, narrower petals and two styles which are forked. The male
flowers have a shiny yellow disc.
=The Fruits= are small black ovoid drupes, becoming veined and wrinkled
when dry, with a single cell containing two seeds. They are ⅜ inch long
and flattened at the top, and very persistent on the twigs.
[Illustration]
=BRIDELIA SCLERONEURA= Müll. Arg.—_Kisni_. EUPHORBIACEAE.
This is a small tree, without any definite form, which grows up to
15 or 20 feet high, with, occasionally a stem some 6 feet high and a
misshapen crown. It is distinguished by the small clusters of minute
flowers in the leaf axils and the crenate margined leaves which lie in
one plane on long, slender, drooping twigs.
=The Bark=, in old trees, is quite black, with long fissures and
fibrous ridges; in young trees it is white, or black and white in
patches, with soft, corky scales which fall in large pieces composed of
several smaller scales bound together. The slash is bright crimson.
=The Leaves= are borne on long, drooping, slender twigs, alternate, in
one plane and gradually diminishing in size from the base upwards. Each
such twig is supported by a larger leaf, 3½ inches long and 1¼ inches
broad. The alternate leaves vary from 3 inches long and ¾ inches broad
at the base of the twig to 2 inches long and ½ inch broad at the end of
the twig. The lateral veins, as they reach the margin, are continued
along it so that the edge is crenate. The tips are sharply pointed.
The leaves all point well forward. The ¼ inch long stalks are covered
with soft, brown hairs. The upper surface is slightly rough and darker
than the under surface, on which the veins, especially the laterals and
mid-rib, stand out prominently and show yellow in colour. The halves of
the leaf tend to fold up along the mid-rib slightly.
=The Flowers= are in very small clusters in the leaf axils and appear
in May and June. They are bright red in bud, the sepals being tinged.
Each male flower is ⅛ inch in diameter with a 5 sepal calyx, 5 minute
petals and a column of 5 radiating stamens. The female flower has 5
sepals, 5 petals, a disk round the ovary and 2 bifid styles.
=The Fruits= are in clusters, often a dense crop, at each node. They
are the size of peas, green at first, ripening to black with a bloom. A
thin skin surrounds a narrow, juicy flesh round a hard, 2-celled stone.
The flesh dries and the skin wrinkles while the fruit is on the tree.
=Uses.=—The roots are sometimes used medicinally.
[Illustration]
=BURKEA AFRICANA= Hook. f.—_Kolo, Kurdi, Bakin, makarfo, Namijin
Kiriya, Kariye gatari_. LEGUMINOSAE.
A fairly large tree up to 50 feet in height with girths of 3-6 feet.
It is a fine upstanding tree, frequently with a 20 feet bole, straight
and clean, with ascending branches and high crown, spreading with age.
It bears a resemblance to _Amblygonocarpus Schweinfurthii_, from which
it can be distinguished by its larger and unequal-shaped leaflets. It
is plentiful in high savannah forests and will extend, by means of
small hollows or valleys as far north as 12½°. In flower or seed it is
readily distinguished, and the leafless tree can be recognised by the
thick, blunt end of the branches, often tufted with the dead stalks of
last year’s leaves.
=The Bark= is light grey with a bluish tint, and the scales are large
and heavy, at times closely fitting, then falling in large sections, so
that the trunk may appear shaggy. The branch bark, right up to the tips
is very thick, with pronounced ridges and fissures and a light brown
colour towards the ends. Often the leaf scars swell and form prominent
knobs on the twigs. The slash is dark red and an oily resin exudes.
=The Wood= is reddish brown, the sapwood, light brown with an orange
tinge. In transverse section the rings are very close, well-marked
darker lines; the pores are very numerous, single and in festoons in
well-developed soft tissue which shows up strongly in contrast with
the hard tissue and nearly closes the pores. The rays are fine and
evenly spaced, nearly straight, not visible to the naked eye owing to
the amount of soft tissue. In vertical section the grain is close, the
rings seen as bands of darker colour. The wood is very hard to saw and
difficult to plane, but the planed surface is smooth and takes a high
polish. It is liable to ring shake when seasoning, but is on the whole
a sound, durable wood, very suitable for upright in constructional
work. The weight is 72 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are some 18 inches long, at first erect, then drooping.
They are bipinnate, with some four pairs of pinnae bearing 9-11
alternate leaflets, 1½-2 inches long and 1-1¼ inches broad, with
unequal lobes and slightly cleft tip, bluish-green above, grey-green
below, with a dull surface. The venation is prominent above and not
beneath. The short leaflet stalk is curved.
=The Flowers= appear in March and April, mostly at the base of the
new leaf shoot, a few only amongst the leaves higher up. They are
in spikes or panicles up to 12 inches long, numerous, pendulous and
conspicuous. The small white flowers are crowded and each consists of
a minute calyx, 5 white petals which bend back in half, concealing the
tips, 10 yellow-anthered stamens and a short blunt, curved pistil. The
pentagonal shape of the corolla with its recurved petals and the erect
stamens are noticeable. There is no scent.
=The Fruits= are pods, 2 inches long, 1 inch broad, thin, not flat, but
tending to twist at the tip, forming a convex and concave side on the
latter, of which the seed is clearly embossed. The colour is mahogany
brown, veined, brittle and persistent. There is one brown, oval flat
seed.
[Illustration]
=BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII= Kotschy.—_Kadanya, Kadai_. “_Shea Butter Tree_.”
SAPOTACEAE.
This is one of the commonest species of the savannah forests and has a
wide distribution. An average tree is about 30 feet high with a girth
of 4-5 feet, though large specimens over 40 feet high with a girth of
10 feet are by no means infrequent. A short, stout bole and large,
spreading limbs, gnarled and crooked, form a widely spreading crown
of considerable density, which, from the drooping habit of the lower
branches, reaches almost to the ground in many specimens. It is the
type species of the tree savannah and in some parts of the country
forms a large percentage of the forests.
=The Bark= is a distinguishing feature of the species and is dark grey,
sometimes almost black, sometimes, particularly in the case of trees
growing in barren situations, almost white. It has deep, vertical
fissures and prominent, square scales of great thickness. The rough
scaling extends to the quite small branches. A milky sap exudes from
the crimson slash and from the leaf-stalks and twigs, when broken.
=The Wood= is a deep, dull red-brown with a purple tinge, the sapwood
is pinkish. In transverse section the rings are indistinct lines and
bands of dark and light tissue, the pores are small and in little rows
between the fine rays, bands of soft tissue running in concentric lines
and also connecting the chains of pores. The wood is extremely hard and
heavy, difficult to saw and very hard to plane, the resulting finish
being hard and taking a high polish. The grain picks up in part and the
wood is liable to crack when dried. The weight is 80 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are strap-like, of an average length of 9-10 inches and a
width of 2 inches; 3-4 inches of the length are occupied by the stalk
and the veining is strong, these two features and the darker colour
distinguishing this species from _Lophira alata_ which it superficially
resembles. The springing of the leaves from the end 2 inches of the
twigs gives the idea of a rosette. The margin of the leaf is waved.
=The Flowers= are in round heads, 2-3 inches across, at the tips of
the leafless twigs and appear from December onwards. Each flower is
cream-white in colour, has 8 sepals in two rows, 8 petals, 8 stamens
and a central, petal-like crown round the ovary, consisting of abortive
stamens (staminodes). The flowers are sweet, with a rather nauseating
perfume. As they die off, the young leaves shoot from the middle of the
head. They are visited by bees.
=The Fruits=, which begin to form from January onwards are like green
plums when ripe, and contain one or two shiny, chestnut-brown kernels,
with a large scar, or hilum, having the appearance of a split seed
coat. They are about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide, the thin seed coat
enclosing a firm, white flesh, from which the oil is extracted.
=Uses.=—The oil is extracted and the butter made by the natives by
a preliminary boiling in water, followed by repeated pounding and
stirring in cold water, the oil which rises to the surface being
skimmed off and placed to harden in calabashes. It is eaten as such,
burnt as an illuminant and used as a base for certain medicines.
[Illustration]
=CASSIA AREREH= Del.—_Malga, Gamma fada_. LEGUMINOSAE.
A small, erect tree from 15-20 feet in height, about a foot in girth,
with one or more stems and a high, drooping crown of delicate pinnate
leaves. It resembles _Cassia Sieberiana_ only in the shape of the
flowers, leaves and pods, and the outstanding differences are the erect
form, the perfume and the longitudinally splitting pods. It grows in
good soils and not in the barren places where _C. Sieberiana_ abounds.
=The Bark= is a dull grey, with wavy but not prominent ridges of crisp
bark, often rather shaggy when the scales fall in long pieces. The
slash is pale brown.
=The Leaves= are pinnate, about 10-12 inches long with 6-7 pairs
of leaflets some 2 inches long and narrowing in proportion to the
length towards the top of the leaf. The main rib is very slender and
is produced beyond the top pair of leaflets in the form of a slender
curve, which frequently replaces one of the final pair of leaflets. The
leaflets are smooth, clearly veined and purplish when young.
=The Flowers= are in racemes some 6-10 inches long, crowded, especially
at the tip, with the flowers whose stalks grow to 3 inches in length.
The three bracts, one long and a pair shorter are very conspicuous,
especially at the crowded tip of the flower stalk where the buds are
purplish. The flowers are typical of the genus, with 5 curled sepals,
5 irregular oval petals, 3 long, 4 medium and 3 short stamens, and
a long, curved pistil swollen in the middle. The flowers are highly
perfumed and appear in February in large masses amongst the new leaves.
=The Fruits= are pods, 12-20 inches long and an inch thick, cylindrical
with irregular constrictions, purplish black in colour, shiny and hard.
They persist on the tree for a long time and finally split down one
side to release the light brown seeds. The inside of the pod has a
yellowish, dry, mealy pulp.
=Uses.=—The pulp of the pod is used as a laxative.
[Illustration]
=CASSIA GORATENSIS= Fres.—_Rumfu_. _Runhu_. LEGUMINOSAE.
This is a small and common tree whose only value, apart from medicinal
use by the natives, is ornamental. It is found in clumps as a small
tree about 10 feet high, but also singly growing to a height of 20
and even 30 feet. Well-grown examples have a 10-12 feet bole some 3
feet in girth and a spherical crown. In its young state it is apt to
be confused with _Cassia occidentalis_, “rai dore,” which latter is a
shrubby herb with similar flowers and leaves.
=The Bark= is grey, sometimes almost white, with wide fissures and
large scales. Old trees may have very dark and rough bark. That of the
stout tapering twigs is a light brown with a powdery surface which rubs
off in the hand. The slash is dull brown.
=The Leaves= are pinnate, 10-12 inches long with about eight pairs of
oval leaflets which are bright green and smooth on the upper surface;
grey, with the venation raised on the under surface. They are soft in
texture and very often blotched or spotted.
=The Flowers= are most conspicuous in large, round bunches at the twig
ends. They are bright yellow and about 2 inches across, with 5 petals,
of which the lower three are much the same size and shape, while the
other two are larger, the one spoon-shaped, the other serrate-edged and
with marked veining. The sepals are also yellow and saucer-shaped, two
of them larger than the other three. Of the 10 stamens, 3 are tall with
large anthers, 4 are short with large anthers and 3 are quite small
with round, flat anthers. They are grouped accordingly, from back to
front as is typical of the genus. They appear in September.
=The Fruits= are thin, brown, jointed pods about 4 inches long,
straight or curved, hanging in bunches. They contain 15 or 20 small,
round, flattish grey seeds and ripen in February.
=Uses.=—The pods and leaves, boiled in water, are used for washing and
purification after child-birth. The same infusion is taken internally
as a cure for fever.
[Illustration]
=CASSIA SIEBERIANA= DC.—_Malga, Gamma fada_. LEGUMINOSAE.
A very common tree with a wide distribution, growing on any kind of
soil from rich loam to the driest and most barren sand or clay. It is
commonest on wastes swept bare and scoured by rain or in little stony
gullies. The form varies with the locality, tall, slender trees growing
on good soils and wide-spreading, many stemmed shrubs of great size, or
small stunted trees on poor soils. The full-grown tree is some 30 feet
high, branching from ground level and forming a hemispherical growth
with foliage to the ground.
=The Bark= of young trees is black, smooth and covered with lenticels
that are rust-coloured on the smaller branches. That of old trees is
dull black and rough with large heavy scales several inches long, that
give the stem a shaggy appearance when they are falling. The slash is a
yellow ochre colour.
=The Wood= is pale red, darkening to a light mahogany brown after
exposure. The sapwood is white. In transverse section the rings are
ill-defined, though the hard and soft tissue is well marked and the
colour is much deeper in this section. The pores are numerous in long
chains and festoons; the rays, invisible to the unaided eye, are fine
and nearly straight. The wood is very hard and heavy and difficult to
saw and plane, the finished surface taking a bright polish. Weight 70
lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are some 12 inches long, pinnate with 6-9 pairs of
leaflets opposite or nearly opposite. These are varied in shape, the
basal pair almost as broad as long and the top pair almost twice as
long as broad, with graduations between, 1½-2 inches long and 1-1¼
inches wide. They are bluish-green with a brilliant sheen, paler
beneath with the mid-rib prominent. Young leaves are often purplish.
The petioles are ¼ inch long.
=The Flowers= are in 12-18 inches long, pendulous racemes, in masses
with the appearance of Laburnum, from February to May. Each flower is
1½-2 inches across on a 1½-2 inch stalk, and has 5 small, irregular
sized pointed sepals with a darker green central line, 5 large yellow
petals, varying in shape, and 10 stamens, 3 long and large-anthered, 4
shorter and large-anthered, and 3 small and round-anthered. The pistil
is large, smooth and green. The petals enlarge and pale after the
stamens have fallen from the fertilised flower. There is no scent.
=The Fruits= are long, black pods, up to 2 feet in length and a little
over ½ inch broad, cylindrical, straight or slightly curved, more or
less jointed, but never deeply, and divided across the length of the
pod by fine, transparent, brittle membranes forming cells up to a
hundred in number containing oval, shiny, light brown, hard, ½ inch
long seeds, one in each cell, rattling loose in the pod. The pods fall
entire or break across and rot on the ground. They are mostly riddled
with holes by a small grub. The dry, yellowish pulp has an unpleasant
smell.
=Uses.=—The yellow, mealy pulp is used in the preparation of a laxative.
[Illustration]
=CELTIS INTEGRIFOLIA= Lam.—_Zuwo, Dukki_. ULMACEAE.
A large tree which, when full grown attains a height of over 60 feet
and a girth of 12-15 feet. It is not commonly distributed all over
the country but is very common locally, _e.g._, in N.E. Sokoto and in
N.W. Bauchi, in both of which places a large number of big trees are
found over a small area of country. It may have a clean bole up to 20
feet or more in length with, in old trees, root flanges. The species
is so frequently lopped for fodder that it is rare to find a naturally
formed tree except in uninhabited forest where it produces a very
large crown rounded at the top and, as a rule, branching low down. The
limbs are large and bent; the twigs slender, horizontally spreading or
drooping. The foliage is dense but not heavy. There are often thickets
of adventitious shoots on the trunk.
=The Bark= is a light, slightly bluish-tinted grey, fairly smooth,
with large, thin, very hard, rounded scales which come away from the
lower end, remaining attached to the tree at the upper end and giving
the rather curious look of sliding down the tree. Under the scales the
bark is light brown. The slash is mottled, dark brown crumbling, white
fibrous.
=The Wood= is light yellow in colour, soft, fairly close-grained, easy
to work with all tools, planes to a dull, smooth finish, cracks only
slightly when seasoning, is not durable under exposure, being inclined
to bluish discolorations and weighs only 35 lbs. per cubic foot. The
native does not use it, but it seems a useful soft timber. The pores
are very numerous, of different sizes, some quite large, open and in
festoons. The rays are just visible with the unaided eye and the rings
plainly seen as close fine light lines. The rays are much waved.
=The Leaves= are variable in shape and size, some toothed and some
plain along the margin. They are from 2-4 inches long and from 1-2
inches wide with pointed tip and ¼ inch stalk. The serrate leaves
are found in numbers on the adventitious twigs, the entire leaves
generally on the long, slender twigs which bear the flowers. Old leaves
are very much darker in colour and rougher to the touch than younger
leaves. Both surfaces are covered with very short, stiff hairs and are
rasping to the touch. There are three main veins and the leaf is not
symmetrical in shape. They turn their upper surface to the sky and are
arranged alternately on the twig.
=The Flowers= which appear from December onwards are in minute,
branched clusters in the leaf axils. Each flower is green in colour and
has 5 sepals, 5 stamens with yellow anthers, and a twice forked stigma
which enlarges as the fruit grows and then withers. The remains of the
sepals and the stamens are found at the base of the fully grown fruit
whilst it is green.
=The Fruit= is a plum, single-stoned and fleshy. If cut through before
ripe, the seed can be seen growing in the top under the stigma and it
expands downwards from this point, only partly filling the cavity when
ripe. The ripe fruit is light brown and ribbed, about ½ inch long, and
the stone is white, very hard and marked all over with a raised network.
=Uses.=—The leaves are a valuable fodder for cattle and made into soup
by the natives.
[Illustration]
=COMBRETUM ABBREVIATUM= Engl.—_Kariya_. COMBRETACEAE.
This very beautiful species is a climbing or spreading shrub with a
multitude of stems forming a tangled thicket with occasional stems
extending into the air some 30 feet in length. It can be distinguished
by its masses of brilliant red flowers and by the great variety of its
leaves and the pale colour of its fruits. It is not common, so mention
is made of two places where it may be seen, namely, in a “kurmi” at
Rahamma (Zaria Province) and at Dan Tudu, near the G. Mainu Reserve on
the River Rima (Sokoto Province).
=The Leaves= vary very considerably from 3-7 inches long and 2-4 inches
broad. They may be almost as broad as long or twice as long as broad.
On the new shoots there are short branches, modified to the form of
blunt spines at the end of which are single leaves. When these drop off
the thorn hardens but is never very sharp. These leaves are arranged
spirally round the stem, unlike those of the other branches without
thorns, which are inclined to one plane. The leaves are dark green and
smooth and the venation shows up almost white in contrast. The venation
is prominent on the under surface.
=The Flowers= are in enormous panicles several feet in length at the
end of the shoots. The clusters vary in size at close intervals all the
way along the shoot and the flowers themselves all stand up in the same
vertical position, forming a great flat mass of brilliant red bloom.
They appear in February and each consists of a light green 4-lobed
calyx, 4 small red petals meeting at the tips and overlapping. From the
tips of the petals 8 stamens emerge, 4 long, 4 short, bright red, as is
the pistil.
=The Fruits= are 4-winged, ¾-1 inch in diameter, a delicate green when
new and a light brown when ripe. The single seed is long and 4-angled.
They are ripe in March.
[Illustration]
=COMBRETUM HYPOPILINUM= Diels.—_Jan Taramniya, Jan Ganyi_. COMBRETACEAE.