A large tree which, when full grown attains a height of over 60 feet and a girth of 12-15 feet. It is not commonly distributed all over the country but is very common locally, _e.g._, in N.E. Sokoto and in N.W. Bauchi, in both of which places a large number of big trees are found over a small area of country. It may have a clean bole up to 20 feet or more in length with, in old trees, root flanges. The species is so frequently lopped for fodder that it is rare to find a naturally formed tree except in uninhabited forest where it produces a very large crown rounded at the top and, as a rule, branching low down. The limbs are large and bent; the twigs slender, horizontally spreading or drooping. The foliage is dense but not heavy. There are often thickets of adventitious shoots on the trunk. =The Bark= is a light, slightly bluish-tinted grey, fairly smooth, with large, thin, very hard, rounded scales which come away from the lower end, remaining attached to the tree at the upper end and giving the rather curious look of sliding down the tree. Under the scales the bark is light brown. The slash is mottled, dark brown crumbling, white fibrous. =The Wood= is light yellow in colour, soft, fairly close-grained, easy to work with all tools, planes to a dull, smooth finish, cracks only slightly when seasoning, is not durable under exposure, being inclined to bluish discolorations and weighs only 35 lbs. per cubic foot. The native does not use it, but it seems a useful soft timber. The pores are very numerous, of different sizes, some quite large, open and in festoons. The rays are just visible with the unaided eye and the rings plainly seen as close fine light lines. The rays are much waved. =The Leaves= are variable in shape and size, some toothed and some plain along the margin. They are from 2-4 inches long and from 1-2 inches wide with pointed tip and ¼ inch stalk. The serrate leaves are found in numbers on the adventitious twigs, the entire leaves generally on the long, slender twigs which bear the flowers. Old leaves are very much darker in colour and rougher to the touch than younger leaves. Both surfaces are covered with very short, stiff hairs and are rasping to the touch. There are three main veins and the leaf is not symmetrical in shape. They turn their upper surface to the sky and are arranged alternately on the twig. =The Flowers= which appear from December onwards are in minute, branched clusters in the leaf axils. Each flower is green in colour and has 5 sepals, 5 stamens with yellow anthers, and a twice forked stigma which enlarges as the fruit grows and then withers. The remains of the sepals and the stamens are found at the base of the fully grown fruit whilst it is green.