The Flowers are the most conspicuous feature of all and may be found from November to February. They are red, tulip-like blooms, 3 inches in diameter, with a dark red 5-lobed calyx, 5 red petals and a mass of black-anthered stamens filling the corolla and surrounding a 5-part pistil. They fall in numbers, entire, and are devoured by antelopes.
The Fruits are large, pendulous capsules some 4 inches long and 2 inches wide, black or deep brown when ripe, splitting into five sections to release small black seeds embedded in a mass of silk-cotton. The pod shrinks in the ripening and the silk cotton is packed tight in it and expands in bulk enormously by hygroscopic action, carrying the seeds a great distance on the wind.
Uses.—The wood is used for making large and small drums, native stools used by women, basins, shoes and saddles and cattle troughs. The bark is used by women to impart a red colour to the teeth. Certain pagans make a sauce from the flowers, locally called “Kwungi.”
BORASSUS FLABELLIFER Linn. var. AETHIOPUM Warb.—Giginya. PALMACEAE.
This very well-known Palm inhabits marshes, the banks of streams and any well-watered hollow, and will grow, if introduced, on dry sandy soils. With the exception of the Dum Palm, Hyphaene Thebaica, it is the most northerly of the palms in Nigeria and is found in vast quantities in “fadamma.” It does not actually grow in the water, though it will survive an occasional immersion when grown, but occupies islands, banks and edges of marshy land as well as the banks of streams, lakes, etc. It reaches a height of over 80 feet, with a girth at the base of 6 feet, at breast height 4 feet 6 inches, and at the narrowest point 3 feet. The stem swells at about 30 feet and after the palm is about 50 years old narrows again, repeating the swelling process again and even a third time in very old palms. The rate of growth, except when cultivated, in which case it is quicker, is very slow. The seed germinates in a month and sends down a shoot from 2-4 feet deep into the ground. This shoot swells at the base and loses connection with the empty seed, and sends up a green shoot from the base, which forms the first leaf. In the root-bud stage it is eaten as a vegetable, called “muruchi” and thousands of seeds are planted for this purpose alone. The first leaf is a narrow blade, as are subsequent leaves, gradually broadening till the first frond appears about three years later, the stem appearing at ground level after some six or seven years. From then onward the growth is at the rate of from 12-18 inches a year, 50 year old palms being about 50-60 feet in height.
The Bark.—The stem is a smooth one after a number of years; the leaf scars, very marked when fresh, gradually fading away.
The Wood is heavy and hard, apt to splinter into separate fibres, but very durable above ground. It weighs about 50 lbs. a cubic foot. The wood of the male is more compact throughout than that of the female whose centre is looser, the outside only being really serviceable.
The Leaves are up to 12 feet long, fan-shaped, the segments V-shaped, joined for half their length, the stalk concave above and spiny on the margins. The sheath divides at the base before falling and remains for some time clasping the stem.