Chapter VIII: Nigeria (4)

_Burkea Africana_, Hook. Farin makarfo.

A tree of 30 to 40 feet, of irregular distribution in open savannah forests, fairly common between Yola and Bornu as well as in Southern Sokoto. It has light, silky foliage, flowers in pendulous, creamy spikes, and dark, almost black, bark. The hard wood is used for handles of axes and hoes.

_Prosopis oblonga_, Benth. Kiriya.

A common tree of the savannah region, extending beyond the Anglo-French boundary, but better developed in the Benué region, where fair timber specimens occur. The wood is hard, with red centre wood, and takes a beautiful polish. It is recognized by its acacia-like foliage, spikes of creamy flowers and stout brown pods, with seeds sometimes used like those of Dorowa.

_Bauhinia reticulata_, DC. Kargo.

A shrub or small tree, one of the commonest constituents of the bush savannahs; readily recognized by the cleft leaves, rusty bark and flat, twisted pods. The tough bark forms an emergency tie-tie, and its long vast fibres furnish strong cordage, which is its chief use in Northern Nigeria. The bark and leaves, containing tannin, have astringent uses.

_Acacia Sieberiana_, DC. Fara kaya, or “White Thorn Acacia.”

A very widely distributed species in the deciduous zone, not usually gregarious and occasionally flat-topped. It is easily recognized by its generally dark foliage and pale bark, the flowers not yellow, but in small, creamy-white balls, and by the long white thorns. It yields a soluble gum, which is perhaps not of the best quality.

_Acacia Arabica_, Willd. Bagaruwa; Indian “Babool.”

One of the commonest species, especially in the northern Hausa States and Bornu, and a source of gum arabic. The flowers are in bright yellow balls and the foliage is a good camel food. The jointed pods are “Sant” or “Gambia” pods, used all over the Soudan for tanning.

_Acacia Senegalensis_, Willd. Dakwora.

Usually only a shrub, not often over 10 feet, sometimes gregarious, and characteristic of the thin bush savannahs; it has grey bark, flowers in white spikes, and three sharp recurved stipular hooks at the base of each leaf.

This species yields probably the best gum from Senegal to Somali, and the root-bark affords a very tough fibre.

_Acacia albida_, Del., var. _saccharata_, Benth. Gawo.

A fair-sized tree, confined to the open dry country in the North, extending into French territory, and an important camel food, but not a gum yielder. The flowers are in creamy-white spikes and the pods are yellow and twisted. It is peculiarly deciduous in the wet season, and bursts into foliage just at the cessation of the rains.

_Acacia Seyal_, Del. Dussa; “Talh of the Soudan.”

A rather small tree, not often over 20 feet, but gregarious and very abundant in North-east Hausaland and Bornu, less common, but local, in Sokoto, etc. It has a yellow or ochrey bark, white thorns and brilliant yellow balls of flowers, and the pods are narrow, sickle-curved and constricted between the seeds. The gum is of good quality, but not equal to that of _A. Senegal_.

_Acacia campylacantha_, Hochst. “Farichin shafu” (= Falcon’s claw).

A fairly tall tree with white flower-spikes and strongly curved spines suggesting the native name. It is sometimes gregarious in limited forest patches, and the gum is said to be good in colour, cleanliness, etc.

To face p. 208.

_Albizzia Chevalieri_, G. et P. Katsari.

A tree of 30 to 40 feet, common in the more open savannah formations, especially in the northern districts. It has whitish flower-balls, with long, pinkish stamens and thin, flat pods. The bark is sometimes used for tanning.

_Entada Sudanica_, Schweinf. Tawatsa.

A small tree of the savannah forests and open plains, easily distinguished by the peculiar jointed pods, each embossed seed section falling out and leaving the empty marginal frame. The flowers are in yellowish axillary spikes, generally two or three together.

_Mimosa asperata_, Linn. Kaidaji.

Forms dense thorny thickets fringing the open bush streams. The flowers are in pinkish balls, and the leaves possess the sensitive quality in a mild degree.

_Lophira alata_, Banks (Ochnaceæ). Mijin kade.

An “African Oak” and one of the most familiar trees of the savannah forests and open country. It is apparently very similar to _Lophira procera_, the “Red Ironwood” timber tree of the southern forests; frequently stunted by forest fires. The seeds yield an oil and the bark is medicinal. The flowers are in handsome white panicles, appearing about November or December, and the leaf and habit often give it an appearance resembling the Shea Butter Tree, but the leaf is beautiful and finely veined. An extraordinary fact is the widespread belief of pagan tribes in the efficiency of the leaf as a charm.

_Eriodendron orientale_, Steud. (Malvaceæ). Rimi; “Silk-cotton Tree.”

A giant in the evergreen forests, and still a comparative giant in the dry zone. In Northern Hausa towns the only very tall trees are Rimi; the wood is light and the stems are sometimes hollowed out for canoes: the floss of the seeds is Kapok, and has the usual local uses. Barth says its distribution eastwards stops at 11° East longitude, and that it is therefore absent from Bornu proper.

Northwards it apparently scarcely extends beyond the Anglo-French boundary.

_Bombax buonopozense_, Beauv. Gurjiya; “Red-flowered Silk-cotton Tree.”

A member of the evergreen forests, but quite a common tree of the open country and savannah forests, sometimes more or less gregarious, and extending at least beyond the Anglo-French border. It reaches about 40 feet or more in height, with crowded spines on the bark and tulip-like red flowers appearing during the deciduous period, generally after the middle of December and in January.

_Adansonia digitata_, B. Juss. Kuka; “Baobab.”

A characteristic tree of the dry savannah regions, often grouped in inhabited areas, with enormously stout stems, but in height limited to 40 to 60 feet. Specimens of 30 to 40 feet girth are not quite uncommon, the swollen stem, with soft, spongy wood, being an adaptation to a dry climate, by storing water to meet excessive transpiration by the leaves.

The bark is smooth and often has a shiny purplish tinge. Apart from fibre from both bark and wood, the dry fruit pulp and the seeds are prepared in various ways as food and drink. Large specimens are still found at Maradi, north of the Sokoto boundary, but chiefly stunted trees are met with at Zinder.

_Sterculia tomentosa_, G. et P. (Sterculiaceæ). Kukuki.

A member of the semi-evergreen forests and common also in the dry zone as a medium-sized tree with soft, palmate-shaped leaves and pods four or five together, splitting to expose the black seeds with yellow arils. A watery juice from the bark refreshes thirsty travellers and a kind of gum tragacanth exudes from the trunk.

_Hannoa undulata_, Planch. (Simarubeæ). Namijin gwabsa or Takandar giwa. (One of two species called by the latter name, _vide_ _Cussonia_.)

A common tree of no great size in the savannah forest. The leaves are pinnate, with five to seven leaflets on long stalks, the flowers, in creamy, fragrant panicles, appearing in October or November, and the fruit is a black plum with unpleasant taste.

_Irvingia Smithii_, Hook. fil.

A tree of evergreen and mixed deciduous forests which invades the ravines and fringing belts in the savannah region as far at least as Kontagora. In the Benué region it is a fairly large tree of 40 feet or more, often gregarious, as in a patch of moist forest opposite Katsina Allah, along with _Pterocarpus esculentus_. The scarlet fruits are known as Goron ruwa or Goron biri (i.e. Water or Monkey Kola), and are eaten by monkeys.

_Balanites Ægyptiaca_, Del. Aduwa; “Desert Date.”

Typical of the Soudan and of the northern drier provinces of Nigeria and extending into French territory; characterized by its bifoliate deciduous leaves, spiny habit in dry soil and evergreen bark. The yellow oval fruit has a thin layer of sugary, bitter-sweet pulp, and the kernel yields Betu oil.

_Boswellia odorata_, Hutch., and _B. Dalzielii_, Hutch. (Burseraceæ). Hano or Ararabi.

Two new species of “Frankincense Tree,” yielding a fragrant gum resin. They reach 30 feet or so in height, have white bark which peels off in thin sheets, racemes of white flowers and pinnate leaves with serrate leaflets.

_Commiphora Kerstingii_, Engl. Dali or Bazana.

A small tree, commonly used as a fence support around native compounds. The bark is smooth and green, and the soft wood can be hollowed out for quivers.

_Balsamodendron Africanum_, A. Rich. Dashi.

A shrub commoner in the northern regions, extending beyond the Anglo- French boundary. In arid regions it forms a good hedge, with some resemblance to the blackthorn. The leaves and bark are fragrant, and it yields a gum resin which is a variety of African myrrh.

_Khaya Senegalensis_, A. Juss. (Meliaceæ). Madachi; “West African Mahogany” of the dry zone.

A large tree for the dry savannah region, but one of the smaller of the mahoganies. In the North, where dry conditions prevail, it tends to favour the banks of streams or the edges of marshy meadows, and is never buttressed, but often acquires a good spreading crown. Good timber specimens have been found on the Gurara River, but apart from this, and perhaps some other favoured localities, it does not as a rule exceed about 4 feet to 4½ feet in girth. It occurs from Gambia to Nigeria and Kamerun, and is again found as a West African element in the flora of Uganda and Mozambique. Northwards it reaches North Sokoto, but apparently does not extend to Zinder. The bark is a reputed bitter tonic in native medicine.

_Pseudocedrela Kotschyi_, Harms. Toman or Tonas; “Dry-zone Cedar.”

In Northern Nigeria this is rarely more than a small to medium-sized tree of 20 to 30 feet, and not usually of good straight growth, probably from the effect of annual fires, but yielding a fine wood. The leaflets are undulate-margined, the flowers are in graceful panicles, appearing about February and March, and the dry, erect capsules, full of winged seeds, split from above downwards in five valves. Occasionally little copses of the species occur, as it seeds freely and numerous seedlings arise—most of them, however, doomed to perish in the next bush-fire. In protected localities it might be fostered into a useful timber tree. Natives find various medicinal uses for the bark.

_Trichilia emetica_, Vahl. Jan sayi.

A fairly common tree across Central Hausaland, not often much over 20 feet in height. It has medicinal properties; the white flowers are fragrant and used to rub the teeth, and the seeds yield a less important oil.

_Trichilia retusa_, Oliv.

A large timber tree with tall, straight stems, found in the Benué region. The flowers are white, appearing about January, in axillary racemes or below the leaves; the leaflets are generally five or three, with wide, shallow indentation at the tip.

_Odina Barteri_ (Anacardiaceæ). Faru.

A fair-sized deciduous tree of the savannah forests, with pinnate pubescent leaves and inconspicuous flowers in pendulous, clustered racemes. It yields a sort of resin, and the small fruits, tipped with four sharp points, are eaten by birds.

_? Spondias sp._ Danya.

A very common tree of the drier savannah forests, very abundant in the North; it has light foliage of pinnate leaves with small leaflets and a yellow, very pleasantly flavoured fruit, with a tough rind like that of the mango. The fruits litter the ground in the months of May and June. The wood is very hard and used for making a heavy kind of basin known as _akushi_.

_Anogeissus leiocarpus_, G. et P. (Combretaceæ). Marike.

This is one of the “Chew-sticks” of Yoruba, and while occurring in fringing forests and evergreen patches, it is very common in the open savannah regions, but probably does not extend beyond the northern boundary. It may be 50 feet in height, and possesses light, graceful foliage, pale bark and small yellowish flowers in globose heads, forming tiny dry two-winged fruits. It affords an inferior gum and is much used medicinally.

_Terminalia sp._, near _T. macroptera_, G. et P. Baushe.

A fairly large tree, 40 feet or more in height, with the oval winged and embossed fruits of the genus, along with its congeners, e.g. _T. Elliotii_, Engl. and Diels, _T. Baumanii_, Engl. and Diels, etc., very abundant and typical of the savannahs of Northern Nigeria. Bows and sticks are made from the roots.

_Terminalia macroptera_, G. et P. Kandari.

A smaller tree with much broader leaves, typical of open park-like formations.

_Combretum spp._

Several arborescent species of _Combretum_ are truly characteristic of the open and bush savannahs, and are well represented even in the northern parts, where, however, in some districts, they are replaced by Acacias. They are practically all gum-bearing; the flowers are small and yellowish in axillary spikes, but the genus is generally easily recognized by the fruits having four papery wings and the usually whorled arrangement of the leaves. The Northern Nigerian species have not all been fully determined, and the native names are at present somewhat confused and may include more than one species. Most of them in this region are shrubs or small trees, occasionally reaching 30 feet or so, with smooth or hoary foliage. The Taramniya is generally _C. leonense_, Engl. and Diels; the Chiriri of Sogoto includes probably _C. Hartmannianum_, Schweinf., and other species; the Dalo is _C. glutinosum_, Perr., or near it.

_Parinarium curatellæfolium_, Planch (Rosaceæ). Rura.

A small tree, very common in the bush and forest savannah, usually only about 10 to 15 feet high, with pale leaves and a dry, pear-like fruit. Of its congeners, _P. macrophyllum_, Sabine, the Gawasa or Gingerbread Plum, is its representative in most northerly provinces, and _P. polyandrum_, Benth., with grape-like bunches of purple not edible fruit, is common in the southern parts of the deciduous region.

_Eugenia Owariensis_, Beauv. (Myrtaceæ). Malmo.

A small tree, generally about 20 to 30 feet in height and always found in moist places, by streams, etc. It has shining, odorous foliage, white, fragrant flower-clusters, and a small black-purple, succulent fruit.

_Cussonia Nigerica_, Hutch. (Araliaceæ). Gwabsa or Takandar giwa.

A new species, occurring in the open and bush savannahs as a small tree from 10 to 15 feet in height, with peculiar bare, raking branches, producing at their ends clusters of digitate leaves or of long catkin- like spikes of inconspicuous flowers. Incisions in the rough, fissured bark yield a clear gum. (For the native name compare _Hannoa undulata_.)

_Cratæva Adansonii_, G. et P. (Capparideæ). Ingidido.

A small tree, occasionally 20 feet high, fairly abundant in the North, of local distribution and common in towns. The leaves are trifoliate and can be used as a vegetable; the flowers are white and the fruit yellow, spherical, and about the size of a small orange.

_Zizyphus spina-Christi_, Willd. (Rhamnaceæ). Kurna.

A small tree characteristic of the dry open regions and commonly planted in northern towns. It is generally about 10 to 20 feet high, spiny, with leaves three-nerved, and a rather dry, edible berry of pleasant taste.

_Z. jujuba_, Lam., is the Magariya, and is similar, but in these regions generally has less of a stem and is more shrubby and thorny, and is not, as a rule, planted, though the fruit is even pleasanter.

_Sarcocephalus Russegeri_ (Rubiaceæ). Tafashia.

A shrub, or occasionally a small tree, common in moist meadows, but found also in the open dry bush. The flowers are in rather large creamy balls, and the coarse red, succulent fruit is the analogue of the Sierra Leone peach, _S. esculentus_, Afzel, which grows to a large tree in the evergreen forests.

_Mitragyne Africana_, Korth. Giyaiya.

This is a characteristic tree of swampy areas in the deciduous regions, found by streams and marshes or forming island-clumps with a few lesser shrubs and weeds in the grassy meadows, which dry up in the rainless months. It is generally from 20 to 30 feet in height and has close, spherical heads of whitish flowers and smooth, but not shining, leaves with regular venation.

_Crossopteryx Kotschyana_, Fenzl. Kasfiya.

A small tree of 15 to 20 feet, with foliage resembling that of Giyaiya, bunches of whitish flowers, and abundant small black, pill-like fruits, which remain attached long after they are ripe.

_Adina microcephala_, Hiern. Kadanyar rafi.

A fairly tall tree of 30 to 40 feet, found in stream-banks in the savannah region. It has whitish balls of flowers and tapering smooth leaves.

_Morelia Senegalensis_, A. Rich. Innuwar bauna.

An evergreen shrub 10 to 20 feet high, common on stream-banks, and found both in the semi-evergreen forests and in the fringing belts of the deciduous region. The flowers are white and somewhat fragrant, and the fruit is spherical, tipped by the tubular remains of the calyx.

_Butyrospermum Parkii_, Kotschii. (Sapotaceæ). Kadanya; “Shea Butter Tree.”

A typical tree of the savannah hinterlands, and one which gives the park-like character to many parts of Northern Nigeria, it barely extends to the northern boundary, and is rarer on the Bornu side. It is generally 25 to 30 feet high or more, with a dense crown and a curiously corrugated bark. Flowers, in white, head-like clusters generally appear about December. The brown, chestnut-like kernels are ripe about July. The milky juice and the coarser venation of the leaves readily distinguish this tree from _Lophira alata_.

_Diospyros mespiliformis_, Hochst. (Ebenaceæ). Kanya or Kaiwa; “African Ebony.”

A fairly large tree, up to about 40 feet in height, in the savannah forests and open country, extending north to beyond the Anglo-French boundary, larger in the mixed deciduous forests farther south and in fringing evergreen belts. The foliage is dark and the bark blackish; the inconspicuous whitish flowers, of separate sexes on different trees, are attractive to bees. The wood is white, with a black heartwood, and the spherical yellow fruits (“Monkey Guava”) have a crisp rind and sweet edible pulp, with four or five seeds.

_Strychnos spinosa_, Lam. (Loganiaceæ). Kokiya.

A small thorny tree with opposite three- to five-nerved leaves, conspicuous by its round yellow fruit, which is orange-like, but has a hard rind and flat seeds embedded in a pleasant acid edible pulp.

_Cordia Abyssinica_, R. Br. (Boragineæ). Aliliba.

A shrub or small tree with broad leaves and white flowers, valued for the sweet yellow berries, which are used in making sweetmeats.

_Kigelia Æthiopica_, Decne.; var. _Bornuensis_, Sprague (Bignoniaceæ). Rahaina or Rawuya.

A species of “Sausage Tree,” of irregular distribution in Northern Nigeria, known in Sokoto, etc., but commoner in the Benué region and in Bornu (possibly more than one species occurring). It grows to a fairly large size, with dense foliage and pendulous racemes of lurid purple and spotted flowers and large, yam-like fruits.

_Stereospermum Kunthianum_, Cham. Jiri or Sansami.

A small tree of the savannah forests, with smooth pale bark, beautiful pink caducous blossoms and long slender pods.

_Vitex Cienkowskii_, Kotschii et Peyr. (Verbenaceæ). Dinya.

A fairly large tree, chiefly of open forest country and extending at least as far as the Anglo-French border. The bark is somewhat smooth, the crown of digitate leaves fairly dense, and the black, damson-like fruits are used in making molasses and sweetmeats. The natives value the wood as strong and suitable for local use.

_Uapaca Guineensis_, Muell. Arg. (Euphorbiaceæ). Ka Jafogo.

In the open country a rather small tree, with the habit of a Ficus, but becoming a large tree, sometimes prop-rooted, in the Benué region and in some ravines.

_Chlorophora excelsa_, Benth. and Hook. (Moraceæ). The “Iroko” or “Odum.”

Some of the splendid Nupé canoes are made of this, but the tree really belongs to the southern forests, though it occurs in the Benué region and perhaps in some northward extensions in river valleys.

_Celtis integrifolia_, Lam. Zuwo or Dukki.

This is a fairly large tree of the savannah forest region, found as far north at least as Sokoto. The leaves are edible and are used as fodder.

_Ficus_ or _Urostigma spp._

This genus has not yet been fully elaborated, and the native names cannot in all cases be definitely applied to distinct botanical species. The following appear tp be fairly established: Chediya, _Ficus Thonningii_, Bl., one of the commonest shade trees, planted in towns and abundant far North in French territory; Durumi, _F. syringifolia_, Warb., perhaps equally common, with shining heart-shaped and pointed leaves; Baure, _F. gnaphalocarpa_, A. Rich. (the rough-leaved species with soft figs which are sometimes considered edible); Uwar yara, _F. Capensis_, Thunb. (_sensu lato_), recognized by the wavy or indented- margined leaves, and especially by the figs being borne in dense clusters on the trunk; Gamji, _F. platyphylla_, Del. (the source of “Red Kano Rubber” and the host of one of the wild silkworms, _Anaphe sp._). Kawuri probably includes _F. kawuri_, Hutch., and _F. glumosa_, Del. Wa is a species with broadly cordate leaves, strongly veined, and Shirinya is a narrow-leaved species. _F. Vogelii_, Mig., is a glossy-leaved rubber-tree, more abundant in ravines and in the moister forests farther South.

The Gamji and Shirinya, and perhaps some of the others, almost invariably begin life as epiphytes.

Most of the species have abundant aerial rootlets, and the latex of _F. Vogelii_, of Gamji, and perhaps of Kawuri and Shirinya, yields rubber of varying quality.

_Raphia vinifera_, P. Beauv. (Palmeæ). Tukuruwa; “Bamboo Palm,” “Wine Palm.”

This well-known palm is found in ravines in the savannah region as far as Zaria province, but is a proper member of swampy patches and moist forests of the South. Roofing poles and palm-wine are its products most used in the North.

_Borassus flabellifer_, var. _Æthiopum_, Warb. Giginya; “Deleb,” “Palmyra” or “Fan Palm.”

The most characteristic palm of Hausaland, with tall, straight and often beaded stems. The germinating shoots from the planted nuts are a vegetable called _muruchi_, and the wood and leaves have the familiar uses in house-building, mat and basket weaving, etc.

_Hyphæne Thebaica_, Mart. Goriba; “Dum” or “Gingerbread Palm.”

The typical palm of the more northerly Hausa provinces, characterized by its forked stems and obliquely fan-shaped leaves. The kernel and the rind of the nut are used in certain food preparations, and the fronds have the usual applications for plaited utensils, etc.

_Phœnix dactylifera_, Linn. Dabino; “Date Palm.”

Introduced by Arabs and confined (with a few exceptions, e.g. at Yola Mosque) to the Northern towns.

In Kano it may be possible to see the three palms, Deleb, Dum and Date, together, but the last is in no sense a tree of Hausaland.

J. M. DALZIEL.

To face p. 216.