Tree, sometimes large, with black bark. Leaves alt., oblong to obovate 2-6 in. long. Fl. white diœcious; infl. axillary, short. Male fl. ferruginous-tomentose, 5, occasionally 4-merous, small; stamens 10-16, often in pairs; fem. fl. 1-3 together, 3-5-merous, staminodes 6-8, styles 2, bilobed. Fr. subglobose 1 in. diam. Nubia; Red Sea Prov. (Erkowit); Kassala Prov. (Gallabat); Fung Prov.; Nuba Mts. Prov. (Gughan); Bahr El Ghazal Prov. (Dinka-land, native ebony; & Bongo-land, a favourite fruit); Mongalla Prov. Wood dark, streaked with black near wounds, takes a fine polish. It is used by natives for making clubs. The heart-wood, which is black, furnishes one of the ebonies of commerce. Fruit edible. =SAPOTACEÆ.= 419 =Butyrospermum Parkii= _Kotschy._ =var. niloticum= _Kotschy._ LULU—Arab; KOR or KOAR or KORI—Bongo; RAK—Dinka; RIVIA, BAA or BAK—Golo; RAK or YAU—Jur; RIEK—Nuer. Large tree with black rough bark, yielding a milky juice producing an inferior gutta-percha. Leaves crowded at ends of branches, oblong, sometimes emarginate, 6-9 in. long, coriaceous, glabrous, lateral nerves prominent, arcuate; petiole 2-3 in. long. Fl. in dense umbels in the axils of the leaves at the ends of the branchlets; calyx lobes in 2 rows of 4; cor. segments 8; st. 8; petaloid cuspidate staminodes 8; fruit subglobose, 1½ to 2 in. long, containing a sweet edible pulp and a seed not unlike a horse-chestnut. White Nile Prov.; Bahr El Ghazal Prov. (Jur. & Mittu lands, Mosanga & Niamniam country); Mongalla Prov. (Gondokoro). The wood is very hard and heavy, it is reddish in colour and takes a fine polish. It is used for mortars, bowls, and for building. The fruit is edible, and the seed is known in commerce as Shea Nut. The kernels of the nuts yield about 50 per cent. of fat called Shea Butter, which has been found useful in the manufacture of candles, soap, and butter substitutes. Locally it is used by the natives for food, for anointing the body, and for lighting purposes. 420 =Mimusops Schweinfurthii= _Engl._ BĪ or BEI or IRDOKO—Golo; NIANLALWEL—Dinka; NIANLALWEL & DENYA—Jur. Leaves crowded on stout shoots, obovate, emarginate, 4 in. long, 2 in. broad, silvery silky below. Flowers densely clustered, axillary; pedicels ⅙ in. long. Sepals pubescent. Bahr El Ghazal Prov. (Jur & Bongo lands). Wood dark-red, very hard. Yields a kind of Gutta-Percha. =M. Kummel= _Bruce._ NIANLALWEL—Dinka & Jur; PILI—Golo. Middle-sized tree with dark bark and milky juice. Leaves alt., oblong, 2-3 in. long. Fl. in few-flowered axillary clusters, coated with brown tomentum; calyx ½ in. long, lobes 8, in 2 rows, cor. white, 24 lobes, 16 in outer and 8 in inner; sta. 8, staminodes 8, linear; fruit ellipsoid, glabrous, 1 in. long. Bahr El Ghazal Prov. (Jur. & Bongo-lands). Wood pale brown, fairly hard, used for spear shafts. The fruit is the size of a cherry and is edible. =M. djurensis= _Engl._