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 Flowers= are little cream-coloured, scented balls, ⅜ inch diam.,
from February on. Each has a 5-pointed calyx, 10 erect stamens, a
short, straight pistil, round the base of which is a ring of reddish
hairs. They are very inconspicuous.
=The Fruits= are small, rough, cone-like balls of irregularly
serrated-edged seeds, packed horizontally. They are green in the seed
and brown in the wing portion. They ripen about December and are about
¾ inch.
=Uses.=—The wood is burnt entire and the fine, white ash used for
fixing dyes. The ash is also used for washing white garments. The
roots are used as “Chew-sticks” for cleansing the mouth and teeth. The
saplings and branches produce forked poles (gofa) for building. The
bark yields a dark, inferior gum. The seeds are a cure for worms in
horses. The leaves, mixed with salt, make a yellow dye.
[Illustration]
=ANONA SENEGALENSIS= Pers.—_Gwandar daji_. “_Custard Apple_.” ANONACEAE.
A very common shrub, averaging some 10-12 feet in height, sometimes
a small tree, in suitable situations exceeding 20 feet; very widely
distributed and found everywhere except in the extreme north. The
distinguishing features are the oval, bluish leaves, the waxy, yellow
flowers and the familiar orange-coloured fruits. It has no particular
form.
=The Bark= is normally light, silvery grey, smooth, with marked
horizontal cuts round the stem, having the appearance of joints. Older
or exposed stems, especially those subject to fire, become darker and
roughly scaly. The slash is a dull, pale pink.
=The Wood= is greenish-grey. The transverse section shows indistinct
rings, minute single pores scattered in between the fine waved rays
which reach from the centre to the edge of the wood and show as small
dark bands in radial section. In vertical section the grain shows as
slight variations in colour. It is soft and easy to saw and plane.
Weight 40 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are oval, some 6 inches long and 3 inches broad,
bluish-green, with a short stalk, the lateral nerves inclined well
forward and the small connecting veins parallel, numerous and at right
angles to the mid-rib. The leaves stand erect and are apt to fold up
along the mid-rib. When crushed they are fragrant.
=The Flowers= appear from January to April, single or in pairs, ¾ inch
long, pale yellow and waxy. Each has three small green sepals and six
petals in two rows, the outer three large, with broad flat edges which
meet tight together in bud, the inner three smaller, thick and pale
yellow, their tips meeting over a mass of stamens round the ovary and
stigmas. The flowers do not open wide and last for a long time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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