The Flowers which spring from old as well as young wood are in small erect panicles 2-3 inches long, appearing February to April. The calyx is ½-¾ inches across, pale green with reddish lines from base to near tip, 5-lobed and downy. There are no petals. The stamens are on a column which is divided into 5 branches, each bearing 3 anthers. The anthers surround the style which is curved and finally the stamens drop off and leave the style exposed.
The Fruits are pods about 3-4 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. There are 4 or 5 together radiating from a twig end and they are the readiest means of identification. They are rounded in the middle and pointed at the end with a groove on the under side along which the pod splits. They are covered with greenish hairs like plush, in a manner similar to the fruits of the Baobab tree. About December the fruit ripens and splits, the seeds falling and the pod remaining on the tree. The seeds, about a dozen, are purplish with a horny, yellow aril at the base and they are attached to both edges of the pod, sitting on small bosses which are covered with short stiff brownish hairs that penetrate the skin of the fingers. There is a large roomy space in the pod, the seeds being small in proportion.
Uses.—The watery sap which exudes from a slash in the spring is drunk in extremity of thirst.
STEREOSPERMUM KUNTHIANUM Cham.—Sansami, Jiri. BIGNONIACEAE.
This is, as commonly met with, quite a small tree, some 20 feet high, with a girth of 2 feet. Larger specimens up to 60 feet in height with a girth of 4 feet are occasionally seen, these dimensions showing the slender proportions of the species. It occurs in clumps, specially fine examples of which are to be seen in Sokoto where they are spread by root suckers. The stem is nearly always waved or spiral, this peculiarity persisting in the larger trees. The stem forks early and the twisted branches form a high crown and the clumps a light canopy under which little grows. Twin stems are common and root suckers abound. The power to grow these suckers is very persistent, as evidenced by cases of them appearing on land which has been farmed for many years and on which there has been no sign of the tree being allowed to grow. Great difficulty has been experienced in growing the tree by artificial means though the seed has been germinated, but the seedlings would not stand transplanting.
The Bark is pale grey or greenish with very large scales which expose contrasting light patches after the manner of the Plane tree. The slash is white with green edges.
The Wood is white or cream-coloured, with tinges of yellow and pink. In transverse section the rings are indistinct darker lines, the pores are very small, in festoons with a large percentage of soft tissue plainly visible as flecks and long concentric lines. The rays are not very closely or evenly spaced, seen as light-reflecting bands in radial section. The grain is fairly straight, following the waved stem of the tree, and coarse with the numerous open pores. The rings show as bands in radial section. The wood is fairly hard, easily sawn, not so readily planed, picking up a little, the finished surface being rather coarse. The weight is 60 lbs. a cubic foot.
The Leaves are pinnate with 2-3 pairs of leaflets and a terminal one. The whole is about a foot long and the leaflets 3-4 inches long. They darken and toughen with age and are greyish-green beneath and much darker above. The lower pair are often rounded at the tip. The mid-rib is almost white in contrast to the upper surface, and the venation is raised on the underneath.