The Bark is pale grey and rough with large, thick, corky, rectangular scales.
The Leaves are in terminal tufts on the thick twigs, at first erect, then drooping, and are 15 inches long with a heavy stalk covered with velvety hairs. The leaflets average 4 pairs with a terminal leaflet and increase in size from below upwards, the basal pair being nearly round and the others increasing in length, with a tapered base and broad cleft tip. The mid-rib of each leaflet projects slightly just below the cleft tip, not actually in the cleft. The upper surface is a rich, smooth green, the underside paler, with prominent nerves, sunk on the upper surface of the leaf.
The Flowers are nearly an inch in diameter, appearing from February onwards. They are in short, stout racemes with a hairy bract at the base of each flower. They appear before the leaves and flower till the leaves are almost full grown. Each has a calyx of 5 sepals which cups the corolla of 5 long greenish petals whose face is concave and tips curved as in the bud. The stamens are joined for half their length and form a ring round the pistil whose globular stigma surmounts them.
The Fruits are prominent capsules, ripening to a rich red colour before drying brown. They are 4-segmented with an uneven surface and a prominent “nose,” and contain 4 cells with a seed in each, not always distinctly separated or fully developed. The fruits are most conspicuous amongst the leaves.
Uses.—The local uses are few, the oil being rarely expressed, and the root occasionally used as a mild purge, unpopular owing to its extreme bitterness. The oil is, however, valuable from other parts of Africa, and has been exported, the seeds containing some 60 per cent. of oil suitable for soap and candles and has been valued at £9 10s. per ton of seed.
UAPACA GUINEENSIS Müll. Arg.—Kafafogo. EUPHORBIACEAE.
A large tree up to 40 feet high with 6-8 feet girth. It occurs as almost pure forest in some localities, is very local, requires good soils and rainfalls, and in such conditions does not, as a rule, exceed 30 feet high with 3-4 feet girths. It is especially common in S. Sokoto, Kontagora, on the escarpments of the Bauchi Plateau and in parts of Zaria Province and on the Plateau itself attains large sizes on the banks of small streams. It is most easily recognised by its shining rosettes of leaves, wax-like yellow flowers or yellow fig-like fruits. It has an erect stem, short bole, whorled branches and regular rounded crown, not very dense from the shade point of view. Its leaf fall covers the ground and little grows beneath it.
The Bark is black, with small, round, even-sized, closely packed scales, often lichenous. Very old trees lose these scales at the base and a brown, fibrous looking bark replaces them. The small black scales are borne almost to the tips of the branches. The slash is red.