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 formed by the growth of the several carpels, one or
two of which generally crowd out the rest and grow at their expense.
Rarely more than two reach maturity and occupy their respective
positions on the stalk with their angular side facing the centre. Each
is ¾ inch long and half as wide, a flattened or angled oval, with
a brown or blackish wrinkled or lined skin, a hard shell and white
kernel with light brown coat. Only a small proportion, as a rule, reach
maturity, and these are very persistent on the tree, falling with the
first rains 3 or 4 months later.
=Uses.=—The wood is used for all purposes that _Bombax buonopozense_
is, namely basins, stools and cattle troughs, and occasionally drums.
[Illustration]
=HYMENOCARDIA ACIDA= Tul.—_Jan Yaro, Jan iche_. EUPHORBIACEAE.
A small, erect tree up to 25 feet in height and 2 feet in girth. It
is very widely distributed from quite near the coast up to 12° N. As
most commonly seen, in open forest, it is not above 15 feet, erect,
with ascending, crooked branches and a close, compact little crown. In
this form it occurs in great quantities in secondary growth and is very
familiar with its pale reddish stem. Older trees may have an 8 feet
bole with a compact rounded crown. The male and female are on different
trees (dioecious), both very readily distinguished, the first by its
red catkins, the second by its red, heart-shaped, double-seeded, winged
fruit. The male is often called “taramniya” by the native, owing to the
resemblance of its flower-spikes to those of _Combretum_ species.
=The Bark= is a light reddish or orange colour, sometimes almost white,
with a dusty covering up to the extremities of the twigs. Here and
there on older trees are a few scattered grey scales. The slash is a
dull pink with a thin green edge.
=The Wood= is pinkish, hard, 55 lbs. per cubic foot, splits in
seasoning, planes well with the grain, coarsely against it, exhibiting
a bright sheen in cross section, the rings well marked fine dark lines,
the pores very small and evenly scattered along the extremely fine rays
in chains. The wood darkens considerably on exposure, being almost
orange in transverse section.
=The Leaves= are some 3-4 inches long and 1-1½ broad, rounded or narrow
at the base, bluntly pointed at the tip, which is variable, with ½ inch
stalks. The mid-rib is prominent beneath. The leaf has a tendency to
fold up along the mid-rib, especially towards the tip which is often
recurved. The colour is at first a most delicate green, conspicuous
from a distance but the leaf turns dark, toughens and loses the few
hairs it had when young. They are arranged spirally round the twigs and
stand erect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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