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 Fruits= are in clusters, often a dense crop, at each node. They
are the size of peas, green at first, ripening to black with a bloom. A
thin skin surrounds a narrow, juicy flesh round a hard, 2-celled stone.
The flesh dries and the skin wrinkles while the fruit is on the tree.
=Uses.=—The roots are sometimes used medicinally.
[Illustration]
=BURKEA AFRICANA= Hook. f.—_Kolo, Kurdi, Bakin, makarfo, Namijin
Kiriya, Kariye gatari_. LEGUMINOSAE.
A fairly large tree up to 50 feet in height with girths of 3-6 feet.
It is a fine upstanding tree, frequently with a 20 feet bole, straight
and clean, with ascending branches and high crown, spreading with age.
It bears a resemblance to _Amblygonocarpus Schweinfurthii_, from which
it can be distinguished by its larger and unequal-shaped leaflets. It
is plentiful in high savannah forests and will extend, by means of
small hollows or valleys as far north as 12½°. In flower or seed it is
readily distinguished, and the leafless tree can be recognised by the
thick, blunt end of the branches, often tufted with the dead stalks of
last year’s leaves.
=The Bark= is light grey with a bluish tint, and the scales are large
and heavy, at times closely fitting, then falling in large sections, so
that the trunk may appear shaggy. The branch bark, right up to the tips
is very thick, with pronounced ridges and fissures and a light brown
colour towards the ends. Often the leaf scars swell and form prominent
knobs on the twigs. The slash is dark red and an oily resin exudes.
=The Wood= is reddish brown, the sapwood, light brown with an orange
tinge. In transverse section the rings are very close, well-marked
darker lines; the pores are very numerous, single and in festoons in
well-developed soft tissue which shows up strongly in contrast with
the hard tissue and nearly closes the pores. The rays are fine and
evenly spaced, nearly straight, not visible to the naked eye owing to
the amount of soft tissue. In vertical section the grain is close, the
rings seen as bands of darker colour. The wood is very hard to saw and
difficult to plane, but the planed surface is smooth and takes a high
polish. It is liable to ring shake when seasoning, but is on the whole
a sound, durable wood, very suitable for upright in constructional
work. The weight is 72 lbs. a cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are some 18 inches long, at first erect, then drooping.
They are bipinnate, with some four pairs of pinnae bearing 9-11
alternate leaflets, 1½-2 inches long and 1-1¼ inches broad, with
unequal lobes and slightly cleft tip, bluish-green above, grey-green
below, with a dull surface. The venation is prominent above and not
beneath. The short leaflet stalk is curved.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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