A small tree of the better types of savannah not extending much north of 11°, and very locally distributed. In certain localities, e.g., S.E. Sokoto and W. Bauchi, it is very abundant and over hundreds of square miles will be found pure in patches and elsewhere composing 40-50 per cent. of the growth. It is slender, erect, up to 30 feet in height, with a stem of 1½-2 feet in girth, with the stem bare of branches up to 10 feet and the crown high, open and narrow. Trees in the open will grow large, round, compact crowns. The distinguishing features are the very light under surface of the leaf and the enlarged sepals which surround the fruit. The species resembles Parinarium.
The Bark is grey with light patches and fairly smooth, with small, close-fitting, not very prominent scales. The slash is dark red.
The Wood is a light brown-pink. In transverse section the rings are distinct as numerous very close fine lines, the pores are minute, numerous and crowded in small festoons interspersed with numerous single pores, the soft tissue being poorly developed. The rays are so fine and close as to be only just visible with the lens. The grain is very close and wavy and the planed surface reflects the light so as to produce a “shot” appearance, with a sheen. The wood is very hard to work with saw and plane and very cross grained. The weight is 64 lbs. a cubic foot.
The Leaves are oval, some 4 inches long and 3 inches broad, slightly cordate at the base, broad at the tip, with a ½ inch long downy stalk. The upper surface is dark green, shining and rough to the touch, with the venation below the surface, and the mid-rib bends at each lateral. The under surface is grey and velvety, the whole venation being prominently marked. At the base of the leaf there is a curious oval space where the blade of the leaf meets over the stalk at the bottom and again at the third lateral, leaving a gap through which the base of the mid-rib seems to appear.
The Flowers, which appear in the rains, are in small axillary clusters, each about ½ inch in diameter, with a 5-pointed calyx, 5 long white pointed petals, a mass of long stamens filling the corolla and a short straight pistil. They are very inconspicuous.
The Fruits are capsules, ½ inch in diameter, roughly round and wrinkled when ripe, with 3 cells in each of which is a small seed loose in the cell. The capsule is hard, fibrous and loosely porous in transverse section. Round it are the 5 greatly enlarged sepals, modified into wings, bright red at first, then drying pale brown. The fruits are very persistent on the tree, many not falling till the new leaves appear. The red wings are conspicuous from a great distance.
MORINGA PTERYGOSPERMA Gaertn.—Zogalagandi, Bagaruwar Makka. MORINGACEAE.
This is a very familiar little tree, an exotic from India, which is planted in compounds in the north. It grows some 15-25 feet high with a single stem often forking or dividing into 2 or 3 stems at or near the ground. It is distinguished by its tripinnate leaves, white flowers and long triangular, pointed pods.