The Flowers are in large, drooping panicles of beautiful, pale pink, funnel-shaped blossoms, which appear in March and bloom till the leaves are grown. They are sometimes much darker on individual trees. They have a small 5-lobed calyx, dark at the base, a pink, tubular, 5-lobed corolla with the lobes crinkled and covered on the inside with hairs and darker lines on the inside of each petal. They have four stamens, grouped on each side of the pistil, 2 longer and 2 shorter, with the appearance of a lyre.
The Fruits are pods about 18 inches long and ¼ inch thick, cylindrical and spirally twisted with a long tapering tip. The pod is filled with a whitish pithy substance into which the seeds with wing above and below are embedded, the wings shaped concavely to fit against the pith. The pods are dark brown and split down both sides throughout their length, the seeds sliding down and falling out. The pods are so persistent that their halves are found on the twigs at the same time as the next year’s pods are fully grown.
Uses.—In large sizes in Bornu it is used for mortars, and cut for fuel and “gofas,” being most conveniently forked. Locally, pagans will lay a length of it across the house door to prevent thieves entering. There is a superstition that smoke from it will cause leprosy and in Sokoto it is called Dan Sarkin Itache as a mark of respect.
STRYCHNOS SPINOSA Lam.—Kokiya. LOGANIACEAE.
This is the best known and most familiar of the Strychnos species and can be distinguished from the others by the large size of its fruits. It is usually a small tree about 15-20 feet high but will grow over 30 feet in height with a girth of about 3 feet. The stem branches low, the branches ascending at first and then bending over and drooping low, especially when borne down by the weight of the fruits. This drooping habit distinguishes it from the other species which occur in the open. Often the branches interlace after the manner of the Zizyphus species. The species occurs everywhere in open situations and on the most barren soils.
The Bark is smooth and light brown in colour, and small, grey scales form and leave light patches when they fall. The slash is yellowish, with green edges.
The Thorns are in pairs at rather wide intervals along the branches and twigs, and are white with black tips. They are sharply recurved.
The Wood is whitish with grey streaks, hard, close grained and sound, picking up a little under the plane, finishing with a smooth surface, and weighs 65 lbs. a cubic foot. In transverse section the pores are very fine, numerous in the many chains and festoons of soft tissue which are clearly visible to the unaided eye and form almost a herring bone pattern. The rays are long, nearly straight, and variable in thickness.