This very beautiful species is a climbing or spreading shrub with a multitude of stems forming a tangled thicket with occasional stems extending into the air some 30 feet in length. It can be distinguished by its masses of brilliant red flowers and by the great variety of its leaves and the pale colour of its fruits. It is not common, so mention is made of two places where it may be seen, namely, in a “kurmi” at Rahamma (Zaria Province) and at Dan Tudu, near the G. Mainu Reserve on the River Rima (Sokoto Province).
The Leaves vary very considerably from 3-7 inches long and 2-4 inches broad. They may be almost as broad as long or twice as long as broad. On the new shoots there are short branches, modified to the form of blunt spines at the end of which are single leaves. When these drop off the thorn hardens but is never very sharp. These leaves are arranged spirally round the stem, unlike those of the other branches without thorns, which are inclined to one plane. The leaves are dark green and smooth and the venation shows up almost white in contrast. The venation is prominent on the under surface.
The Flowers are in enormous panicles several feet in length at the end of the shoots. The clusters vary in size at close intervals all the way along the shoot and the flowers themselves all stand up in the same vertical position, forming a great flat mass of brilliant red bloom. They appear in February and each consists of a light green 4-lobed calyx, 4 small red petals meeting at the tips and overlapping. From the tips of the petals 8 stamens emerge, 4 long, 4 short, bright red, as is the pistil.
The Fruits are 4-winged, ¾-1 inch in diameter, a delicate green when new and a light brown when ripe. The single seed is long and 4-angled. They are ripe in March.
COMBRETUM HYPOPILINUM Diels.—Jan Taramniya, Jan Ganyi. COMBRETACEAE.
A small tree, rarely exceeding 20 feet in height, except in good soils, found very commonly in the drier country of the extreme north or in open savannah where the Terminalia species abound. It is not unlike C. lecananthum, but the seeds are larger and the leaf broader. Its form is typical of the small, wide-spreading trees of the Bush savannah, one or more stems and a number of spreading branches forming an open crown. Occasionally, though rarely, the species exceeds 20 feet and has an 8 feet bole. The tough, deep red fruits are distinctive.
The Bark is grey or brown, smooth in young stems and later showing long, vertical, narrow ridges and stringy fissures. The slash is red-brown.
The Leaves are variable in size, up to 5 inches long and 2½ inches broad, oval with a pointed tip and a stout ¾ inch long stalk. The venation is prominent beneath and flush on the upper surface, the mid-rib very prominent and light coloured. The upper surface is dark green and smooth, the underneath grey-green. They are tough in texture.