The Flowers appear in April, just as the fruit has fallen, the females on one tree the males on another. The males are on branched spadices up to 6 feet long, the separate catkins a foot long and 2 inches broad. There are 3 sepals, 3 petals and 6 stamens, the flowers being green. The females are on a 6-8 feet long spadix, unbranched, with up to a dozen spikes of flowers, with 3 sepals, 3 smaller petals and the rudiments of 6 stamens.
The Fruits are the most conspicuous feature, ripening in April to a rich orange colour. They are some 6 inches long and 5 inches broad, the enlarged calyx cupping the fruit. The edible, fibrous pulp surrounds three seeds with hard fibrous coats and edible kernels.
Uses.—Locally the pulp is eaten raw or pounded with milk. The kernel is eaten young. The root-buds are roasted and are a delicacy. The leaves are used for mats, bags, baskets, fans, &c. Some tribes extract salt from them. The wood is used for canoes, rafters, poles, water-pipes, doors and guttering. Elsewhere the leaf stalks are the source of fibre, a spirit has been distilled from the flower spathes and buttons made from the seeds.
BOSWELLIA DALZIELII Hutch.—Hano, Ararabi, Basamu. BURSERACEAE.
A very common tree in high savannah, extending as far north as 13° where the soil is suitably rich and well watered. It will not grow as far north as this where the conditions are dry and barren, granite soils and situations on stony ground of the right kind being suitable. In sand or laterite it will not thrive, but it will flourish on bare granite where its roots can make their way into crevices. In some suitable localities it forms almost pure forest and is a very handsome species under those circumstances. The leaf, flower, fruit or bark are all distinctive. Another closely allied species, B. odorata, differs only in having a branched panicle in place of the bunch of racemes of B. Dalzielii. When young or middle-aged the stem is erect and the limbs ascend steeply forming a high crown, foliated down to a low point. Older trees exhibit a short, massive bole from which the heavy limbs spread out forming huge crowns with drooping extremities.
The Bark is most conspicuous, pale brown, with large papery pieces peeling off and at times hanging in shreds from the stem. The slash is reddish-brown and a scented gum-resin exudes, partly drying into nodules, almost white in colour, readily crumbled.
The Leaves are 12-18 inches long, pinnate, with some 7-9 pairs of long, slender, pointed, deeply-toothed leaflets. These increase in size towards the top end of the leaf, the basal pair often being very small and distinct in shape. The terminal pair are frequently partly united into one for half or more of their length. The leaflets are sessile, in colour light green and shining, with the venation raised on both surfaces.
The Flowers appear from January to April, and are in large bunches of racemes at the tips of the large, blunt twigs. The racemes are from 6-8 inches long and bear numerous white flowers on ½-¾ inch long stalks. Each flower is ⅝ inch in diameter with 5 white, pointed petals, 10 stamens whose anthers are bent away from the filament at a side angle, and a small, blunt pistil. The flower disc is red and the flower scented.