BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII Kotschy.—Kadanya, Kadai. “Shea Butter Tree.” SAPOTACEAE.
This is one of the commonest species of the savannah forests and has a wide distribution. An average tree is about 30 feet high with a girth of 4-5 feet, though large specimens over 40 feet high with a girth of 10 feet are by no means infrequent. A short, stout bole and large, spreading limbs, gnarled and crooked, form a widely spreading crown of considerable density, which, from the drooping habit of the lower branches, reaches almost to the ground in many specimens. It is the type species of the tree savannah and in some parts of the country forms a large percentage of the forests.
The Bark is a distinguishing feature of the species and is dark grey, sometimes almost black, sometimes, particularly in the case of trees growing in barren situations, almost white. It has deep, vertical fissures and prominent, square scales of great thickness. The rough scaling extends to the quite small branches. A milky sap exudes from the crimson slash and from the leaf-stalks and twigs, when broken.
The Wood is a deep, dull red-brown with a purple tinge, the sapwood is pinkish. In transverse section the rings are indistinct lines and bands of dark and light tissue, the pores are small and in little rows between the fine rays, bands of soft tissue running in concentric lines and also connecting the chains of pores. The wood is extremely hard and heavy, difficult to saw and very hard to plane, the resulting finish being hard and taking a high polish. The grain picks up in part and the wood is liable to crack when dried. The weight is 80 lbs. a cubic foot.
The Leaves are strap-like, of an average length of 9-10 inches and a width of 2 inches; 3-4 inches of the length are occupied by the stalk and the veining is strong, these two features and the darker colour distinguishing this species from Lophira alata which it superficially resembles. The springing of the leaves from the end 2 inches of the twigs gives the idea of a rosette. The margin of the leaf is waved.
The Flowers are in round heads, 2-3 inches across, at the tips of the leafless twigs and appear from December onwards. Each flower is cream-white in colour, has 8 sepals in two rows, 8 petals, 8 stamens and a central, petal-like crown round the ovary, consisting of abortive stamens (staminodes). The flowers are sweet, with a rather nauseating perfume. As they die off, the young leaves shoot from the middle of the head. They are visited by bees.
The Fruits, which begin to form from January onwards are like green plums when ripe, and contain one or two shiny, chestnut-brown kernels, with a large scar, or hilum, having the appearance of a split seed coat. They are about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide, the thin seed coat enclosing a firm, white flesh, from which the oil is extracted.
Uses.—The oil is extracted and the butter made by the natives by a preliminary boiling in water, followed by repeated pounding and stirring in cold water, the oil which rises to the surface being skimmed off and placed to harden in calabashes. It is eaten as such, burnt as an illuminant and used as a base for certain medicines.
