The useful trees of northern NigeriaLely, Hugh Vandervaes
Science
The useful trees of northern Nigeria
Lely, Hugh Vandervaes
Plants, Useful -- Nigeria, Northern; Trees -- Nigeria, Northern
=The Wood= is whitish with grey streaks, hard, close grained and sound,
picking up a little under the plane, finishing with a smooth surface,
and weighs 65 lbs. a cubic foot. In transverse section the pores are
very fine, numerous in the many chains and festoons of soft tissue
which are clearly visible to the unaided eye and form almost a herring
bone pattern. The rays are long, nearly straight, and variable in
thickness.
=The Leaves= are oval and about 2½ inches long and 1½ inches broad with
a short stalk. They are shiny on the upper surface, lighter beneath,
and have palmate venation of a distinct type.
=The Flowers=, which appear in February, are in little clusters,
and are green. Each is ¼ inch long and has 5 narrow sepals and a
bell-shaped corolla of 5 lobes, whose mouth is closed by a ring of
hairs. They are slightly perfumed.
=The Fruits=, which distinguish this species from the others, are
large, yellow, round berries, some 4 or 5 inches in diameter, green
when unripe, bright yellow and resembling an orange when ripe. The hard
rind encloses a number of round flat seeds in a brownish, sweet, edible
pulp. The seeds themselves are poisonous. The fruit is very slow in
maturing and may be found on the tree for about six months in the year.
=Uses.=—The pulp of the fruit is eaten, the seeds being rejected as
poisonous.
[Illustration]
=STRYCHNOS TRICLISIOIDES= Baker.—_Kokiya_. LOGANIACEAE.
A small, erect tree, from 12-20 feet high, or more, with a girth of
1-2 feet. The branches are vertical, and do not spread, there being no
crown as such. The stem may be free of branches for some 10 feet, or
there may be more than one stem, forking near the base. It does not
occur far north, and is particularly common on rocky soils in granite
country. It is in form very dissimilar to the other well-known species,
_S. spinosa_, and unlike it has no thorns. It can be determined by its
flowers, fruits and leaves, which are all typical of the genus.
=The Bark= is smooth in all shades of pale greys and greens, with a
powdery surface. The small scales leave light, concave scars like the
Plane tree. The bark is so distinctive that when recognised, it will
identify the tree alone. The slash is cream-coloured, with green edges.
=The Wood= is yellow, hard, coarse and stringy, difficult to plane,
cracks when drying and weighs 55 lbs. a cubic foot. In transverse
section the rings are indistinct, the pores large, closed and strung
rather widely apart between or on the rays which are long, fine and
wavy and close together, varying much in thickness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account