The Fruits are winged seeds, the wings formed by the enlargement of the 2 sepals. At first red, they become light green and leathery, the larger 4 inches, the smaller 2 inches long. The fibrous-coated seed elongates till it is a pointed cone an inch long, light brown as are the now dry wings. The seed contains a single kernel, loose when ripe, about March. Few natives will allow that this tree has any seeds, even when shown them, a popular obstinacy.
Uses.—The wood is too tough to carpenter satisfactorily, but is suitable for building posts. The seed contains some 45 per cent. of oil, said to be suitable for soap after testing, but this is not extracted locally.
MAERUA ANGOLENSIS DC.—Chichiwa. CAPPARIDACEAE.
A small tree, widely distributed throughout savannahs of both types, flourishing equally well in dry sandy soils and richer loamy soils. It is straggling, often growing in the shade of other trees and partly supporting itself by them. In the open it is a slender tree about 15 feet in height, the stem dividing and the open low crown with drooping branches. Occasional examples will reach 25 feet with a 2 feet girth. It extends up to 13° N.
The Bark is dark grey to almost black. That of the smaller branches is dark brown, profusely spotted with small white lenticels which give it a mottled appearance, a most distinctive character. Galls on the new twigs and on the stem are very common.
The Leaves are simple, ovate, but variable in length to breadth, averaging 2 inches long and 1 inch broad. The tip is rounded or slightly cleft with a small projection of the mid-rib. The colour is pale and the surface smooth. The mid-rib is prominent beneath, otherwise the venation is practically unnoticeable. The stalks are ½-1 inch long and the last ¼ inch is thickened and bent at an angle and when the leaf is plucked the stalk nearly always parts at this bend.
The Flowers can be found from November to April and the individual flowers for a long time, almost ripe fruits and new flowers occurring at the same time. They are in leafy racemes of large size. Each has a slender stalk, a long column-like torus, 4 sepals which bend right back and finally fall off, no petals and a number of long white stamens, in the middle of which is the long slender style with the ovary at the tip. The lower part of the calyx is tubular, with the torus inside, and round its mouth is a toothed ring.
The Fruit forms at the end of the pistil, the sepals having fallen, the calyx tube shrunk and the toothed disc being exposed. It enlarges up to 6 inches in length and is constricted at intervals so that it looks like a string of irregular-sized beads. Sometimes two seeds lie alongside, and there may be as many as 30. The fruit is yellow and finally brown when ripe, and is similar in appearance to that of Cassia goratensis, though the restrictions are not so narrow as those of that species.