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
A small shrubby tree some 10-15 feet high, widely distributed all over
the forests and sometimes found in great quantities over small areas.
It does not grow in the very dry sandy or rocky northern regions. It
has one or several stems from a common stock which spread out and form
an open low crown of no form. It can be readily distinguished in fruit
and flower.
=The Bark= is dark brown or almost black, with very small,
close-fitting rectangular scales. That of the branches is dark grey and
smooth. The slash is crimson and fibrous.
=The Thorns= are about ½ inch long, slender, very sharp, straight and
grey in colour.
=The Leaves= are 2 inches long and ¾ inch wide, tapering at both ends
and with pointed tip: sometimes rounded with slightly cleft tip. The
mid-rib has a tendency to curve back, the leaves folding up along it.
The surface is smooth and the stalk short and stout and curved.
=The Flowers=, which appear in January are in small axillary clusters
of a dozen or so, each having its own slender stalk growing from the
tip of a stouter main stalk. There are 4 small, slender, pointed
sepals, 4 petals whose tips are recurved and whose inside surfaces
are covered densely with soft, erect hairs, 8-10 stamens inside the
corolla, and a pleasant perfume which can be detected from a great
distance.
=The Fruits= are like yellow cherries, with thin skin, sweet flesh and
hard stone. The style remains as a prominent pointed tip to the fruit,
which is very subject to grubs that may destroy the whole crop.
=Uses.=—The fruit is eaten and is, with its acid sweet taste, very
refreshing.
[Illustration]
=ZIZYPHUS JUJUBA= Lam.—_Magariya_. RHAMNACEAE.
This species bears a marked resemblance to _Z. Spina-Christi_, but
differs essentially in the under-surface of the leaf having a dense
pubescence. It is, as a rule, a smaller tree, though examples may be
found almost as large as the other species, 40 feet high with a girth
of 5-6 feet. The crown is similar, with a dense tangle of armed twigs,
which interlace and droop to a considerable distance. The twigs are
very slender and zig-zag sharply at the nodes. This species, unlike the
other, is not often seen in towns, but occurs locally in plenty in the
forest, in the more open and drier localities especially. It is, like
the other, the favourite haunt of small birds, which build their nests
in association with those of a small wasp. The crown is not so dense as
that of _Z. Spina-Christi_, since the leaves are smaller and further
apart.
=The Bark= is a smoky grey colour with a brown tinge and has narrow
fissures and long stringy ridges and scales. The slash is cerise pink.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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