Included here is the area of southwestern Dahomey, southern Nigeria, western Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, most of Gaban and western Congo.

Nigerian-Cameroonian Swamp Forest

These forests are found, for example, throughout the Zaire basin along rivers, and in river basins and creeks and there are extensive stands in the Niger Delta. Many of the trees have special breathing or aerial roots (pneumatophores), and these combined with the unusual architecture of species like Lasiomorpha senegalensis (Araceae), a giant, spiny regionally endemic aroid, and the regionally endemic Ficus vogeliana (Moraceae) with its sinuous buttresses bearing flagelliform infructescens, can give these forests a very strange physiognomy. Other common trees include various endemic species like Anthonotha macrophylla, Aphanocalyx hedinii, Gilbertiodendron demonstrans (Fabaceae), Berlinia auriculata, Plagiosiphon multijugus (Fabaceae), Cola hypochrysea (Sterculiaceae), Diospyros gracilescens (Ebenaceae), Neolemonniera batesii (Sapotaceae), Pachypodanthium barteri (Annonaceae), Spondianththus preussii, Uapaca heudelottii (Euphorbiaceae) and a multitude of regionally endemic species. The tallest trees can reach heights of 45 m, while the dense shrub layer includes various narrow leaved rheophytic species such as the endemic Alsodeiopsis zenkeri (Icacinaceae). There are also many lianas, and climbing palms such as Acistraphyllum, Calamus and Eremospatha with their ‘evil’ hooked spines are particularly characteristic.

References

Boughey, A. S. 1957. Ecological studies of tropical coastlines I. The Gold Coast, West Africa. Journal of Ecology, 45: 665-687.

Catinot, R. 1978. The forest ecosystem of Gabon: an overview. In: Tropical forest ecosystems. Natural Resources Research Vol. XIV. UNESCO

Richards, P. W. 1963a. Ecological notes on West African vegetation. II. Lowland forest of the southern Bakundu Forest Reserve. Journal of Ecology, 51: 123-149.

Tchout, M. G. P., Yemefack, M., De Boer, W. F. De Wilde, J. J. F. E., Van Der Maesen, L. P.J. Cleef, A. M. 2006. Biodiversity hotspots and conservation priorities in the Campo-Ma’an rain forests, Cameroon. Biodiversity and Conservation, 15: 1219-1252.

White, F. 1983. The Vegetation of Africa. UNESCO.