Page:Niger Delta Ecosystems- the ERA Handbook, 1998.djvu/76

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The Lowland Equatorial Monsoon Ecozone

Afzelia africana
Alstonia boonei
Amphimas pterocarpoides
Celtis zenkeri
Chlorophora excelsa ('Iroko')
Combretodendron africana
Cyclicodiscus gabunensis
Distemonathus benthamianus ('African Satin Wood')
Drypetes gossweileri
Diospyros mespiliformis
Entandophragma macrophylum ('Mahogany')
Futuma elastica (an early source of rubbber)
Hypodaphnis zenkeri
Khaya grandifolia (also 'Mahogany')
Lovoa trichiliodes ('African Walnut')
Mimusops djave
Myrianthus arborus
Parkia bicolor
Pterocarpus soyauxii ('Camwood')
Pterygota macrocarpa
Pycnanthus angolensis ('African Nutmeg')
Spathodea campanulata
Sterculia oblonga
Triplochiton scleroxylon 'Whitewood')
Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides ('Fagara')

Other trees that may have been found in the Ogoni Forest, but are more associated with the lowland tropical rainforests on the West side of the Niger, are:—

Entandrophragma angolensis ('Mahogany')
Entandrophragma utile ('Mahogany')
Guara cedrata
Guara thomsonii
Khaya ivorensis ('Mahogany')
Strombosia postulata

This list only covers 38 of the seventy or more tree species that would naturally have been present. Furthermore, these seventy tree species would have been associated with hundreds of other plant species, including palms, bamboo (in the wetter sub-ecozones), ferns, micro-epiphytes (mosses, algae, liverworts and lichens), macro-epiphytes (such as orchid, ferns and ficuses), climbers (such as the rattans), and many herb species (begonia, sedges, the ginger family).

How old are rainforest trees?

74