soils, found very commonly in the drier country of the extreme north
or in open savannah where the _Terminalia_ species abound. It is not
unlike _C. lecananthum_, but the seeds are larger and the leaf broader.
Its form is typical of the small, wide-spreading trees of the Bush
savannah, one or more stems and a number of spreading branches forming
an open crown. Occasionally, though rarely, the species exceeds 20 feet
and has an 8 feet bole. The tough, deep red fruits are distinctive.
=The Bark= is grey or brown, smooth in young stems and later showing
long, vertical, narrow ridges and stringy fissures. The slash is
red-brown.
=The Leaves= are variable in size, up to 5 inches long and 2½ inches
broad, oval with a pointed tip and a stout ¾ inch long stalk. The
venation is prominent beneath and flush on the upper surface, the
mid-rib very prominent and light coloured. The upper surface is dark
green and smooth, the underneath grey-green. They are tough in texture.
=The Flowers= which appear from December to February are in axillary
spikes up to 3 inches in length crowded with cream-coloured, slightly
scented flowers, each of which has a 4-pointed calyx, 4 minute petals,
8 stamens and a short pistil rising from a calyx full of white hairs.
=The Fruits= are 4-winged, 1-1¼ inches in diameter and length,
conspicuous by their size, tough texture, and the rich, reddish-purple
colour softened by a grey bloom. They are very numerous, crowded, heavy
and hard.
[Illustration]
=COMBRETUM LECANANTHUM= Engl. & Diels.—_Chiriri, Dagera_. COMBRETACEAE.
A very common tree of the more open, dry savannahs and occurring on
hard and barren or dry and sandy soils, often in such quantities as to
form almost pure forests. It occurs mixed with the shrubby _Combretum_
species or by itself in belts and patches on slightly better soil than
is required to support the latter. It is about 20-25 feet high but a
full-grown example will reach 40 feet with a 5 feet bole girth. The
stem is rarely straight, often leaning or twisted and branching low
down. The crown is either of erect branches and twigs, or the latter
may as often as not droop and hang vertically downwards.
=The Bark= is smooth, grey-brown or rust-red in colour, with hardly any
scales, but of a rather fibrous appearance. From it, in the hot season,
large quantities of gum exude, white, yellow or red-brown, poor in
quality, not brittle, but rubber-like, melting in moist heat and drying
only in the dry season. The gum forms strange shapes, from nodules to
long slender spirals. The bark is very thin. The slash is crimson, with
yellow centre.
=The Wood= is a dirty white or cream colour. In transverse section it
is much darker and the pores are very small and in little wavy lines
and festoons, the rays exceedingly fine and close light lines. In the
plank the pores are fine dark lines. In the green state the wood is so
tough as to blunt axes but when it dries it loses its strength and is
often completely destroyed by borer beetle. An unsatisfactory wood of
no value. Weight 56 lbs. a cubic foot. The name “kariye gatari,” or
“break axe” is given to it.
=The Leaves= vary largely in shape and in proportion of length to
width. They average 4-5 inches long and 2-2½ inches wide, tapering both
ends, pointed, shining above, paler beneath, the venation simple and
the lateral nerves inclined far forward. They are in pairs and tend to
lie in the same plane.
=The Flowers= are in branched spikes, cream-coloured and sweet-scented.
They appear in November and may flower up to July. Each has the
4-pointed calyx, 4 minute petals, 8 stamens and short pistil common in
this genus. There are bright orange glands inside the calyx.
=The Fruits= are 4-winged seeds, about ¾ inch long. They ripen from
green through red to brown, and hang in loose clusters amongst the
leaves. The stalks of the flower spikes elongate considerably with the
seed growth and intermingle, forming a tangle of seed and stalk.
=Uses.=—There are none other than that the gum is chewed by the natives.
[Illustration]
=COMBRETUM LEONENSE= Engl. & Diels.—_Wuyan damo_. COMBRETACEAE.
This species is found distributed fairly evenly over large areas of
both Tree savannah and the drier, more open forests, and is common
in rocky country. It has a tendency to grow longer, straighter boles
than other species of _Combretum_ and is commonly met with 20-30 feet
high, or even more, with girths of 3-4 feet. If surrounded by other
trees, the stem is exceptionally straight and readily distinguished
by its dark colour and the small, square, regular scales. The crown,
with its large, dark, drooping leaves, is dense, and big trees afford
good shade. The branches droop over and the long, slender twigs hang
straight down.
=The Bark=, a ready means of identification, is dark grey, sometimes
almost black, and is covered with small, prominent, square, even-sized
scales from which the tree gets its Hausa name, owing to its
resemblance to the skin of the large lizard. It yields a gum. The slash
is yellow.
=The Wood= is yellow or greenish-yellow. In transverse section the
pores are small, in groups and festoons, the rings indistinct and the
rays so fine as to be invisible. In the planks the pores are long, wavy
and dark, the grain being crooked and fibrous in appearance. It is a
very hard, tough, heavy wood, most unsatisfactory to saw and impossible
to plane. The strength and durability are great. The weight is 64 lbs.
a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are larger than those of other species and are dark green,
with a softly hairy surface and a soft texture. They are about 7 inches
long and 2½-3 inches wide, with a long, slender tip, a taper at both
ends and a very short stalk. They are pendulous on the long, slender
twigs.
=The Flowers= are in clusters of 1½ inch spikes and are yellow with a
sweet odour of musk. There are 10 yellow stamens round a square calyx
and the pistil is surrounded densely by hairs on the receptacle. The
flowers appear in March.
=The Fruits= are the typical winged seed of the genus and are smaller
than those of most other species, a light brown in colour, less than 1
inch long and very persistent.
=Uses.=—The stems of small trees make excellent posts for use in the
ground, owing to their great durability.
A concoction from the bark is used medicinally as an astringent.
[Illustration]
=COMBRETUM MICRANTHUM= Don.—_Fara Geza_. COMBRETACEAE.
This is one of the commonest species in the north, and covers many
square miles of the driest and most barren of rocky wastes where little
else will grow. The stout root stocks and tough, wiry stems survive
fire, drought and excessive heat. It grows from 3-10 feet high, pure or
mixed with other _Combretum_ species or with _Guiera senegalensis_. It
is distinguished by its generally smaller leaf, smaller fruits (seeds),
lighter green foliage and the masses of highly perfumed flowers.
=The Leaves= are light green and shining, in pairs. The tip is pointed
and the margin sinuous. They decrease in size from the base of the twig
upwards. The venation is raised on both surfaces. They are 2-3 inches
long and 1-2 inches broad.
=The Flowers= are in dense masses of spikes in the leaf axils from May
onwards and fill the air with perfume. Each has a 4-pointed calyx,
4 small petals, 8 stamens and a short pistil. There is a ring of
orange-coloured hairs round the pistil.
=The Fruits= are 4-winged, ½ inch in diameter and length, brown when
ripe, in dense clusters on brittle stalks. They are persistent right
through to the following rainy season.
=Uses.=—The bark is stripped for fibre and the stems used entire for
binding the rafters of grass roofed houses or split for basket making.
The stems are so tough that an axe or matchet will as often as not fail
to cut through, but split the stem.
[Illustration]
=COMBRETUM VERTICILLATUM= Engl. & Diels.—_Farin Taramniya_.
COMBRETACEAE.
This is one of the commonest of the larger _Combretum_ species,
especially in the drier savannahs. It is particularly common in Sokoto
Province and can be distinguished by the grey, dusty-looking leaves.
There are two common forms of growth. The more common is that with a
bole from 5-10 feet long, or several stems from ground level, and a
round straggling open crown with the twigs drooping low down. The other
is the tall, erect stem up to 40 feet in height, branching to within a
few feet of the ground but having a cylindrical crown composed of erect
limbs terminating in long slender branches of great length extending
high into the air or dividing into numerous drooping flaccid twigs. The
heavy leaves sway and weight down the weak twigs which can be bent to a
circle without breaking. The species grows in the poorest sandy soil.
=The Bark= is pale grey or brown with very small, crisp scales
scattered all over it, there being wide spaces between the scales,
especially in the spring. The scales are dotted with small
rust-coloured lenticels. The bark is sometimes cream-coloured. The bole
is rarely cylindrical, but most often columnar and having rounded root
flanges. The slash is red-brown.
=The Wood= is yellow or greenish-yellow. In transverse section the
pores are small, single or in small groups, and the rings are very
faint, the rays hardly visible, except as small brown bands in
radial section. In the plank the pores are brown and open and the
grain irregular, with black lines, flecks and brown patches. An
unsatisfactory wood, cross-grained and tough, but strong, hard and
fairly sound. Difficult to saw and plane. Weight 55 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= vary much in size from 3 inches long and 2 inches wide
to 5 inches long and 2½ inches wide. The base may be slightly cordate
or narrowing and the tip is generally abruptly pointed. The margin is
wavy, the leaf rarely flat and the foliage is very subject to attacks
by insects and is much contorted, indented and disfigured. The upper
surface has a dusty grey bloom and the lower surface is grey. The
venation is raised on both sides of the leaf. The whole is soft and
velvety to the touch. There is a ¼ inch stalk.
=The Flowers= are yellowish and in racemes, the spikes 1-2 inches long.
They first appear when the tree is leafless from December onwards and
are scented. Each consists of a 4-lobed calyx, 4 small white, recurved
petals and 8 stamens opposite sepals and petals.
=The Fruits= are 4-winged, 1-1¼ inches long, all shades of red till
they are ripe, when they turn brown. The seed is long and 4-angled.
[Illustration]
=CORDIA ABYSSINICA= R. Br.—_Aliliba_. BORAGINACEAE.
A small tree up to 25 feet high, either shrub-like in habit or with a
short bole and round crown. The distinguishing features are the large
heart-shaped leaves, large heads of papery flowers and the clusters of
yellow fruits. As a shrub the branches spring from ground level and
form a large compact bush, and as a tree the bole may be from 6-10 feet
long and some 2-3 feet in girth.
=The Bark= is light grey and smooth with small lenticels. Only on the
larger trees do scales form and the bark splits longitudinally and has
a fibrous appearance. The slash is white.
=The Leaves= vary greatly in size from the quite small ones at the twig
ends to the large basal leaves a foot long and 9 inches wide. They are
heart-shaped, with stout stalks, the mid-rib curved back and the leaf
tending to fold up along its length. Both surfaces are rough with short
hairs. The upper surface is dark green, the lower paler. The venation
is bold, the mid-rib not straight, but changing direction at each
lateral nerve. The lateral nerves are connected by parallel veins. The
leaf is tough in texture.
=The Flowers= which appear in October, are in large branched heads, a
mass of buds prolonging the flowering period. The flower blooms for one
day and then dries crisp, retaining its shape more or less when dry.
Each flower is an inch across, funnel-shaped, white, with veined and
crinkled corolla with 5 indistinct lobes. There are 5 black-anthered
stamens and a twice-forked style with 4 stigmas. The 5-toothed calyx
is a short tube and is heavily ribbed. The flowers have no stalks and
there is a slight perfume.
=The Fruits= are in clusters; round juicy drupes with a hard stone and
yellow translucent flesh, edible and sweet. They are ½ inch in diameter.
=Uses.=—The fruits are eaten, either fresh or mixed with honey to make
a sweetmeat “alewa.”
[Illustration]
=CRATAEVA ADANSONII= DC.—_Gude_. CAPPARIDACEAE.
A medium sized tree found growing locally in considerable quantities
in “fadammas.” It attains a height of about 30 feet with a girth of
4-5 feet. Owing to the fact that the leaves are cropped as a human
foodstuff, few trees retain their natural form and the general
appearance is that of a pollard willow, with a short, stout stem and
a number of erect slender shoots, inclined to bend down. Owing to its
being liable to submersion for certain periods, the stem is frequently
in a semi-recumbent position and from it spring a number of shoots
forming a false crown. It is a very handsome tree in full flower and
the delicate foliage is attractive.
=The Bark= is a light brown with a few crisp scales here and there.
That of the branches is smoke-colour, densely covered with light brown
lenticels. That of the new twigs is pale brown.
=The Wood= is very soft and of a rich yellow colour. It has a strong
not unpleasant odour. It is of no practical use.
=The Leaves= are trifoliate with a stalk some 3 inches long and the
leaflets from 3-4 inches long and an inch wide. They are narrow at
both ends, light green and smooth, tender in consistency. They are in
whorl-like bunches at the tips of the twigs.
=The Flowers= are very handsome and appear in February at the tips of
the twigs in clusters of 10-20. Each has 4 small pale green sepals, 4
large leaf-like white petals grouped round one-half of the calyx and
some 18 inch-long mauve stamens with mauve anthers. The pistil, which
appears prominent in length after fertilisation is some 1½ inches long,
with a knob at the end.
=The Fruit= is very like that of _Strychnos_ (kokiya) in appearance,
a pale brown sphere from 1½-3 inches in diameter on a woody stalk
about 2½ inches long. The inside contains a number of small dark brown
seeds of quaint “curled-up” shape embedded in a white, mealy flesh.
The “rind” of the fruit is thin and crisp. The fruits are ripe about
November onwards. They are eaten by birds who pick out the contents and
leave the empty “shell” on the tree.
=Uses.=—The leaves are considerably eaten by the natives, and in times
of famine are taken great distances to the markets.
[Illustration]
=CROSSOPTERYX KOTSCHYANA= Fenzl.—_Kasfiya_. _Kashin awaki_. RUBIACEAE.
This fairly common tree occurs more plentifully in localities which
are flooded during the rains and baked hard and burnt bare in the dry
season. Thus it may take the place of _Mitragyne africana_ (giyeya)
in wet-season fadammas where the grass is rank in growth. It is not,
however, confined, like the above, to such situations, but abounds in
open savannah and rocky places. It is most readily identified by its
fruits, q.v. and also by its habit of sending up a number of stems
from a common stock, these stems growing erect and close together and
showing an irregular cross section, oval, grooved or flattened in shape
by reason of this close proximity to each other. In form the tree is
cylindrical with a rounded or pointed top and sparse foliage. The
foliage extends almost to the ground. A height of 30 feet and 2-3 feet
girth is usual.
=The Bark= is peculiar in structure and is light grey or brownish, with
small grey scales which will crumble in the hand and appear to consist
of numerous lenticels. It is smooth and the scales are not prominent.
The slash is salmon pink and crumbling.
=The Wood= is a brown pink, not unlike Pear wood. In transverse section
the pores and rays are scarcely visible, so close is the texture. The
rings show as faint light lines, close together, and the minute pores
are scattered about between the exceedingly fine and numerous rays. The
grain shows as slight banded variations in depth of colour. It is a
sound, hard wood which seasons well, saws and planes easily to a hard,
smooth finish, taking a good polish. The small sizes are unfortunate.
Weight 57 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are about 3½ inches long and 2 inches broad, alternate
and inclined to assume one plane. They are pale green and downy on the
upper surface, roughly and intricately veined beneath with light brown
velvety hairs on the veins.
=The Flowers= are in close bunches with a tendency to droop from
their weight; each flower consisting of a small 5-lobed calyx, a long
tubular corolla with 5 petals, white tinged with pink, and a long,
clubbed pistil surrounded by 5 small, protruding stamens. They are
sweet-scented and appear in February.
=The Fruits= are easily recognised, forming bunches similar to the
heads of flowers. Each is a small blackish capsule with a black tip,
and it splits into two sections across the two seeds which are the
shape of half the capsule and are black. They are very persistent and
remain on the tree for a long time after they have shed their seeds.
=Uses.=—The stems are cut for poles (gofas).
[Illustration]
=CROTON AMABILIS= Müll. Arg.—_Koriba_. EUPHORBIACEAE.
A small, erect tree from 10-25 feet high which will grow in the extreme
north in the driest and most barren of soils. It flourishes round the
parallel 14° north and extends right down to the extreme south also.
It is often a stunted, shrub-like tree growing in quantities on bare,
hard, stony soils, but in more open sandy localities will grow a 15
feet bole with an open light crown composed of erect, slender branches.
Old trees spread wide and give a little shade. It can be at once
distinguished by the silvery glister of its leaf on the under side and
by the spikes of closed flowers.
=The Bark= is grey or light brown with small, close-fitting, even-sized
polygonal or rectangular scales.
=The Wood= is pale yellow, discoloured grey in patches. The rings are
fine, close, light lines, the pores are very fine, numerous and evenly
distributed, connected by very fine lines of soft tissue, narrower than
the pores. The grain is fine and the wood is hard, difficult to saw,
not hard to plane and finishes with a hard, smooth surface which will
polish. The weight is 64 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are long, narrow and pointed, 4 inches long and 1½ inches
broad with a 1½ inch stalk. The upper surface is a dark shining green,
the lower glistening silver with minute rust spots all over the
surface. The mid-rib is sunk on the upper and very prominent on the
under surface. The lateral nerves are numerous and parallel. The stalk
and mid-rib are covered with soft brown hairs. The young leaf is bronze
or red-coloured. The leaves droop and tend to fold up along the mid-rib.
=The Flowers= are of two sexes, each on a different tree (dioecious).
They are in racemes, resembling long spikes. The male are the longer,
up to 4 inches, the female up to 2 inches. The male flower has 5
sepals, 5 petals and some 15 stamens all packed up in the bracts, on
short stalks. The females have similar flowers with 3-part styles each
with a bifid stigma. The flower parts are hardly visible to the naked
eye so closely folded are the bracts.
=The Fruit= is a capsule, 3-lobed, one seed in each lobe. They ripen
about November onwards, but may be found for many months in the year.
[Illustration]
=CUSSONIA NIGERICA= Hutch.—_Gwabsa, Takandar giwa_. ARALIACEAE.
This quaint looking species is locally very common, more especially on
rocky hills where, in its leafless condition, it resembles some cactus
growth. It is not, as a rule, above 20 feet in height, but may reach
over 30 feet with a girth of 4-5 feet. The girth is large in proportion
to the height and there is practically always a clean bole, sometimes
divided at the base into two stems, with an umbrella-like crown,
flat-topped. The form of the tree is best seen in its leafless state,
when it has the appearance of innumerable stags’ horns, the branches
being very thick and blunted at the ends. In leaf, its more or less
grotesque appearance is disguised by the large and handsome foliage.
=The Bark= is very rough and vertically fissured, light grey with long,
corky ridges and regular sized scales. A clear gum exudes from a cut.
Annual fires are harmless but cause a large amount of charcoal on the
outside so that the stems are nearly always blackened. The slash is
pale brown.
=The Wood= is a dirty grey colour, very soft, brittle and easy to work,
is not durable, rots readily and weighs only 23 lbs. a cubic foot. In
transverse section the rings are dark lines at broad intervals and
the rays are clearly visible to the unaided eye. The pores are open
and distributed in small rows, singles and groups between the rays; a
useless wood.
=The Leaves= are digitate with about 8 digits, in length from some
10-20 inches in the one leaf. They spring from the tips of the blunt
twigs in an erect bunch, at first almost purple in colour. Each has a
2 feet long stalk and the edges are serrate. They are pale green in
colour.
=The Flowers= appear in February and are on stout spikes of weird shape
and appearance, which grow well over a foot long and are about one
inch thick. The flower spike shows flowers and fruits in all stages
of maturity from the bud to the seed and may be straight or twisted
and tangled up with the others on the twig. Each flower is pale green
with 5 petals, between ½ and ¾ inch across, with 5 stamens and a bifid
stigma on a stout ovary.
[Illustration]
=DETARIUM SENEGALENSE= Gmel.—_Taura_. LEGUMINOSAE.
In the north this species is generally quite a small tree from 15-20
feet high with a few erect branches forming a small flat-topped crown.
Often, however, quite large trees can be seen, even in the driest
country, and further south large specimens up to 40 feet high with
girths over 6 feet are not uncommon. In the southern provinces, the
same tree will grow to a height of 80 feet with a 12 feet girth.
The larger portion of the height is almost always the crown, which
is spreading and dense, giving good shade. The tree is readily
distinguished by its bluish bark and round, compressed fruits. The
small trees show enlarged tips to the branches from which the leaves
spring. In places it is so common as to form almost pure forest over
small areas.
=The Bark= is bluish-grey, with large polygonal scales. On young trees
there are yellowish patches where the scales have fallen and the bark
of the smaller branches is ochrous and powdery. The slash is pale
crimson.
=The Wood= is dark brown or red-brown. In transverse section the rings
are slightly darker lines, the pores are small, clear and open, mostly
single, some in groups or nests of 2-4, rather unevenly and widely
scattered. The rays are visible, not all continuous, some broader
than others, evenly spaced with room for the pores between, showing
in radial section as brown bands, so conspicuous on the sapwood as to
colour it. In vertical section the pores are light coloured in the
heartwood and dark in the sapwood, in which the resinous pore contents
darken the wood in rings, showing as lines in the vertical section. The
wood is tough and hard and not easy to work, though it has a slight
sheen and takes a polish. The weight is 55 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are pinnate, 6 or 7 inches long with 6-10 alternate or
opposite elliptical leaflets some 3 inches long and 1½ inches broad.
Those nearer the top are more oval, those at the base rounder. The
tip has a slight cleft. The leaf-stalks are very short and stout and
covered with dusty brown hairs. The surface is waxy, there may be a few
hairs, and bluish-green. The texture is rather leathery.
=The Flowers=, which appear in May, are found in masses all over the
tree. They grow on short, branched stalks in dense clusters. There are
no petals, their place being taken by the white petal-like sepals, 4
in number. There are 8 short, curved stamens with yellow anthers and a
short pistil.
=The Fruit= is a drupe about 1½ inches across and flattened to about
¾ inch. It has a brown outer skin, a greenish, mealy flesh full of
fibres which when the flesh decays remain round the kernel. This flesh
is sweet and edible, but not very palatable. On small trees clusters
of abortive fruits are found; little round, brown-green, soft growths
which do not mature.