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 Bark= is grey with light patches and fairly smooth, with small,
close-fitting, not very prominent scales. The slash is dark red.
=The Wood= is a light brown-pink. In transverse section the rings are
distinct as numerous very close fine lines, the pores are minute,
numerous and crowded in small festoons interspersed with numerous
single pores, the soft tissue being poorly developed. The rays are so
fine and close as to be only just visible with the lens. The grain is
very close and wavy and the planed surface reflects the light so as to
produce a “shot” appearance, with a sheen. The wood is very hard to
work with saw and plane and very cross grained. The weight is 64 lbs. a
cubic foot.
=The Leaves= are oval, some 4 inches long and 3 inches broad, slightly
cordate at the base, broad at the tip, with a ½ inch long downy stalk.
The upper surface is dark green, shining and rough to the touch, with
the venation below the surface, and the mid-rib bends at each lateral.
The under surface is grey and velvety, the whole venation being
prominently marked. At the base of the leaf there is a curious oval
space where the blade of the leaf meets over the stalk at the bottom
and again at the third lateral, leaving a gap through which the base of
the mid-rib seems to appear.
=The Flowers=, which appear in the rains, are in small axillary
clusters, each about ½ inch in diameter, with a 5-pointed calyx, 5 long
white pointed petals, a mass of long stamens filling the corolla and a
short straight pistil. They are very inconspicuous.
=The Fruits= are capsules, ½ inch in diameter, roughly round and
wrinkled when ripe, with 3 cells in each of which is a small seed
loose in the cell. The capsule is hard, fibrous and loosely porous
in transverse section. Round it are the 5 greatly enlarged sepals,
modified into wings, bright red at first, then drying pale brown. The
fruits are very persistent on the tree, many not falling till the new
leaves appear. The red wings are conspicuous from a great distance.
[Illustration]
=MORINGA PTERYGOSPERMA= Gaertn.—_Zogalagandi, Bagaruwar Makka_.
MORINGACEAE.
This is a very familiar little tree, an exotic from India, which is
planted in compounds in the north. It grows some 15-25 feet high with a
single stem often forking or dividing into 2 or 3 stems at or near the
ground. It is distinguished by its tripinnate leaves, white flowers and
long triangular, pointed pods.
=The Bark= is a deep bluish grey and smooth.
=The Wood= is white, very soft and of no use whatever.
=The Leaves= are tripinnate, about a foot long, with some 6 pinnae,
each with some 2-5 pinnules, some again with one or two pairs of
leaflets and a terminal leaflet. The terminal leaflets are generally
larger than the others and all are variable in size and shape from
small oval to large spear-shaped leaflets. The foliage is very sparse
and graceful.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account