=The Fruits= are pods, 4-5 inches long, ¾ inch wide, very flat, with the seeds slightly embossed. They are very numerous, tenacious and conspicuous on the trees from October onwards. The seeds, about six in a pod, are round, flat, shiny and dark brown, the same colour as the pods, and have strong germinating power. =Uses.=—The wood is used for implement handles of all kinds. The branches are cut for making protective farm fences, and the pods are very much appreciated by cattle. [Illustration] =ACACIA DALZIELII= Craib.—_Gaba chara, Gwanno_. LEGUMINOSAE. This is a slender Acacia, locally very plentiful, especially in central and south-west Sokoto throughout some 1,000 square miles. It inhabits the open bush savannah of better quality where the rainfall is good and the soil contains some loam. In certain belts it is the predominant species. It is the largest leaved of all the Acacias in this zone and at a distance closely resembles _Entada sudanica_, though the leaflets are much smaller and more numerous and the flowers and thorns are both distinctive; in fact, the resemblance is one of form only. It grows 20-35 high with a girth up to 3 feet. Some trees are tall and slender with high crowns, others low-branched and spreading, but the foliage of all is very light and graceful. =The Bark= is grey-brown with long fissures and large, shaggy scales which fall in long, irregular sections. This is largely due to fires which thicken and blacken the cork. The bark of the twigs is a silvery grey. The slash is a dull red, exposing the orange colour of the wood. =The Thorns= are in pairs on the twigs, the leaves springing from between them. They vary considerably in size, ¼-¾ inch long, large and green on the new shoots and small and black on the wood, as a rule. They are slightly curved, and grooved along the inner side from the point where the leaf-stalk springs. =The Wood.=—The heartwood is reddish with long, vertical streaks of black and brown in the pores. The sapwood is yellow with an orange grain. In transverse section the rings are indistinct, the pores are open and numerous, the soft tissue in wide and narrow festoons plainly visible to the unaided eye. The wood is hard, splits easily, is straight-grained, not easy to plane and weighs 65 lbs. a cubic foot. =The Leaves= are 12-18 inches long, bipinnate with 20 or more pairs of pinnae bearing 50 or more pairs of long, narrow, pointed leaflets with parallel edges. Near the base on the dorsal side of the stalk is a prominent oval gland. They are a very bright, fresh green, and at first erect, finally spread and droop. =The Flowers= are in large, erect panicles, 12-18 inches high and stiffly branched, standing prominently up on the ends of the shoots. They appear in the rains and are in bright yellow balls about ½ inch in diameter.