=The Fruits= are like cones, some 3 inches long and 1½-2 inches broad, smooth and shiny, with a number of broad, pointed scales, varying in colour from chestnut to red-brown. They contain one kernel, loose in the shell. =Uses.=—The leaflets are used for plaiting into mats, &c. The mid-rib is used for roofing material, beds, canoe poles, and split into lengths, the inner portion makes mats. The sap is used for wine. The inside of the fruit (outside the kernel) is eaten, expressed for oil, used as a medicine or for dressing the hair in various parts of Nigeria. [Illustration] =RHUS INSIGNIS= Del.—_Kasheshi_. ANACARDIACEAE. A small tree of the open Bush savannah, some 15-20 feet high. There is either a single stem or several. The crown is distinctive with its long, straight, slender branches and light appearance. It is very susceptible to fire and is frequently met with in coppice form owing to the destruction of the stems. The distinguishing features are the drooping leaves in threes and the small black, wrinkled fruits. =The Bark= is grey or light brown, vertically, but not deeply, ridged. =The Leaves= are borne in threes at a node and the short stalk bends back, allowing the leaves to hang vertical. They are 3 inches long and an inch broad, a rich, dark green above, silvery below, with the dense covering of silky hairs. The venation is parallel on either side of the mid-rib, short and long nerves alternating. The leaf is inclined to fold up along the mid-rib. =The Flowers= appear in the rains and are in large, erect sprays. Each flower is about ¼ inch in diameter with 5 sepals, 5 white petals and 10 stamens. Owing to their numbers and prominent position at the twig ends, they are conspicuous. =The Fruits= are numerous, flattened, single-seeded ovals, shiny black with wrinkled skins and persistent for many months on the leafless tree in the dry season. They are very hard and are a ready means of identification. [Illustration] =SARCOCEPHALUS RUSSEGERI= Kotschy.—_Tafashiya_. RUBIACEAE. This common species is often more of a shrub than a tree, but in the more favourable localities which it inhabits, chiefly “fadammas” or wet soils among rocks, 30 feet is by no means an unusual height. Older trees generally have several large, crooked stems rising from a common stock or a short, stout bole some 5 feet in girth. Smaller, shrub-like specimens are very straggling with open growth and long, drooping and interlacing branches. The crown, in spite of the size and thickness of the leaves, is fairly open. It is easily identified by either the flowers or fruit which latter can be found for several months of the year. =The Bark= is grey, or brown and dull in older trees, with very deep, wide and long fissures and thick, soft ridges. The scales are up to 12 inches in length. The slash is yellow, with crimson streaks. =The Wood= is a deep red-brown colour, but is not used owing both to the small sizes and the lack of bole in the tree.