The Fruits are very variable in size and shape, but are always of the same consistency, grey-green on the outside with a fibrous flesh that surrounds a number of small, round, flat, yellow seeds in a firm pith. They may be round or oval, ribbed or plain with roughened surface, covered with lenticels, and from 1 to 4 inches long. They may be found on the tree during the greater part of the year, and fall entire.
Uses.—The fruits are not edible and are used in the making of black cosmetic (katambiri) for decorating the faces of women.
The tree and its branches are used for fences (shingi) round farms and also for sticking on the tops of compound walls.
GREWIA MOLLIS Juss.—Kurukubi. TILIACEAE.
A large shrub or small tree growing in higher savannah forest and not occurring in dry latitudes. It is especially partial to granite soils and hills. It has no very definite form, being either a dense shrub 12-15 feet high or a small, shapeless tree up to 20 feet, with crooked branches and a mass of fine twigs. It likes the shade of high forest and is found under the shelter of large trees. The star-shaped yellow flowers and irregularly toothed leaves are the conspicuous means of identification.
The Bark is black and rough, deeply fissured and fibrously scaled. It presents a rough, shaggy appearance.
The Leaves are alternate on the long shoots and assume one plane with their surfaces to the light. Especially in the shrubby forms is this most marked. The leaf is 3-5 inches long and 1-1½ inches broad, borne on a short stalk and with the edges acutely and irregularly cut into teeth of all sizes. There are three main nerves, the mid-rib boldly branched and the laterals less so. All the nerves point well forward, and are prominent beneath. The basal lobes are unequal. The leaf-stalk is dorsally flattened. The upper surface is a dull, blue green, the under surface paler. The leaf-bearing shoots are oval in section.
The Flowers appear in April and persist till well on in June, the fruits almost ripening before the last flowers are over. They are in axillary clusters, 2-3 on a stalk and 2-4 stalks in an axis. They are ½ inch in diameter, bright yellow, with 5 long, narrow yellowish sepals, 5 small, round yellow petals and a mass of yellow stamens surrounding a knobbed pistil.