A Hausa botanical vocabulary

U

umara, vide kokara.

uwa banza?, vide gizaki.

uwar maganni, Urena sinuata, Linn. (Malvaceæ). A shrub 6 to 8 feet high with pink flowers and deeply lobed leaves, planted in compounds (Sokoto West) for its strong fibrous bark used for cordage. (Etym. ?uwar magami, “mother of joinings”). This species is scarcely distinguishable from the wild U. lobata, or ramaniya, q.v. and is often so named.

uwar mangunguna (Sok. Zanf., &c.), Securidaca longipedunculata, Fres. (Polygalaceæ). vide sainyia. (Etym. “mother of medicines”).

uwar yara (Kano, Katagum, &c.); Ficus capensis, Thunb. (Urticaceæ). A species of fig-tree with dense clusters of edible figs growing on the trunk and older branches. (Etym. from the abundant fruiting clusters). Syn. haguguwa (Kano, Bauchi, &c.), garicha (Zanfara), and farin ḅaure.

W

wadda, Rauwolfia Welwitschii, Stapf. (Apocynaceæ); a tree somewhat resembling the shea-butter tree, with milky sap; (Benué district and south).

wa or ya (Sok.), Ficus sp. (Urticaceæ). A species of fig-tree with rounded cordate leaves and large single figs. wan kurumi, another species of Ficus.

waiyaro, vide ḳaguwa.

wake, Vigna sinensis, Endl. (V. Catjang, Walp.), and perhaps other species. The common cultivated bean of the country. Chowlee (India), Tow Kok (China).

ka nannaḍe, q.v. a brown-speckled bean in curled pods; bidi, also a speckled bean.

Beans are used as food in the following ways:—

1. Fresh leaves used as a vegetable or in soup.

2. Young pods eaten raw or cooked.

3. Beans eaten boiled; the husks given to cattle.

4. Tubani, dried beans pounded, kanwa added, tied up in folded palm or other leaf and boiled.

5. Ḍan wake, bean meal with kanwa boiled in lumps and balls, eaten with a soup or sauce of ground-nuts, salt, pepper, &c. (romon geḍa).

6. Ḳosai, dried beans soaked in cold water, ground moist, and then boiled in ground-nut oil and made into balls or dough-nuts; (mucilage of yoḍo, q.v. may be added for cohesion); ḳosai of beans nearly corresponds with kwalli kwalli of ground-nuts, and abakuru of kwaruru, q.v.

7. Wasa wasa, porridge of ground beans.

8. Maka (East Hausa), bean leaves dried and used in soup.

harawan wake = bean straw used as fodder.

kowar wake = bean pods or husks.

jimḅirin wake = immature bean pods used as a vegetable often uncooked.

The following saying is applied to the bean:—“na gazawa garkuwar maiḳi niḳa, ka ḳi fari uku, ka ḳi a gona, ka ḳi a tukunya, ka ḳi a chiki.” These are nicknames for the bean, which is both an unprofitable crop and an inconvenient and coarse kind of food, but the stranger goes home and describes them as novelties which he has seen—the bane of the indolent who will not take the trouble to grind it—in the field it occupies more space than its value—in the pot it requires long cooking—in the stomach it disagrees.

waken Ankwai, waken bisa, a large climbing bean, cultivated in some districts; probably the white-seeded var. of Canavalia ensiformis, DC. “Sword Bean,” vide under ḅarankachi. (Ankwai, a pagan tribe in Muri).

waken baibayi or waken Gwari, Dolichos Lablab, Linn. A cultivated climbing bean on fences, trees near houses, or on hut roofs, &c.; called also w. damfami, w. darni, &c.

waken barewa or waken damo, Vigna membranacea, A. Rich. and other spp. Wild twining beans in fields &c. vide gayan gayan. (Vigna vexillata, Benth. Vigna pubigera, Baker, &c.).

waken gizo, Vigna triloba, Walp. A bean twining on fences, &c. greatly resembling the common cultivated bean; eaten by goats, &c. The saying ka yi ḍiya ka watsas, is used of this (from the scattering of the seeds when the pods burst).

waken tumḳa, vide yawa.

waken Turawa or waken Masar, W. Stambul, &c. Cajanus indicus, Spreng. “Congo Pea,” “Pigeon Pea.” An erect shrub introduced for cultivation. A form of Indian “dal.”

walkin tsofo or walkin wawa, Trichodesma africanum, R. Br. (Boragineæ); a coarse herb with white flowers, common near villages, &c. (Etym. “old man’s” or “fool’s apron”).

wasa wasa, a food made of beans; vide under wake.

wayo, a var. of dawa, q.v.

wutar barewa, a species of fungus; vide under tumukun suri.

wuta wuta, vide ḳuduji.

wutsiyar ḅera, vide tsarkiyar kusu.

wutsiyar damo, vide karan masallachi.

wutsiyar giwa, vide gabara.

wutsiyar jaki, vide katsaimu.

wutsiyar ḳadangare, vide tsarkiyar kusu.

wutsiyar kurege or bundin kurege, a grass about 12 to 18 inches high, with a bottle-brush-like flowering spike. A name somewhat loosely applied, and including Trichopteryx hordeiformis, Stapf, and Perotis latifolia, Ait.

wutsiyar kusu or w. ḅera, vide tsarkiyar kusu and shinaka.

wutsiyar raḳumi, Platycoryne paludosa, Rolfe (Orchideæ). A small ground orchid with orange-coloured flowers. (Etym. from the long spur of the flower; probably applied to several orchids with spurred flowers).

wuyan bajimi, a var. of gero, q.v.

wuyan damo, Combretum leonense, Engl. and Diels. and perhaps other spp. (Combretaceæ). A tree with corrugated bark and 4-winged fruit; a gum yielder; bark used as an astringent medicine. (Etym. from the rough scaly bark resembling the skin of the large lizard, damo, Varanus exanthematicus).

Y

ya, a species of fig-tree; vide wa.

yaḅi = arrow-poison; vide kwankwani. (yaḅa = to smear). Syn. zabgai.

yabainya (Kano), the young plants of dawa or gero, (which contain prussic acid and are in some circumstances highly poisonous until they reach a certain stage of growth).

yaḍiya, Leptadenia lancifolia, Decne. (Asclepiadeæ). A common twiner with half-succulent leaves and a thick greenish sap; leaves and flowers used as food, and bark for fibre.

yaḍiyar kada, Taccazea Barteri, Baill. (Apocynaceæ). A twiner with milky juice, common on trees, &c. near streams; (including other species).

yaji or yan yaji, a general name for spice; vide chitta, kubla, &c.

ya ḳi ruwan Allah, vide under kwarko.

yako (Sok. and Kats.), Ipomœa pilosa, Sweet, and other spp. (Convolvulaceæ). A rough-leaved convolvulus common on fences, &c. in towns; vide under barmatabo. The dried leaves form a medicine called dankon kuyangi.

yakuwa, Hibiscus Sabdariffa, Linn. (Malvaceæ). “Red Sorrel,” “Rosella.” A cultivated plant with acid leaves and succulent calyx (usually red in colour), used as a vegetable. Syn. sure (Sok.). gurguzu = seeds of yakuwa; daudawar beso = seeds boiled and crushed and the oil extracted, used for soup and as a medicinal vehicle. zoḅarodo = the fleshy calyces of yakuwa used in food, as a beverage, &c.

yakuwar fatake or y. mahalba, vide ayana and buḍa yau.

yakuwar ḳaya, y. kwaḍi, y. daji, y. ḳaimamowa, &c. = wild varieties of Hibiscus cannabinus, Linn. a very variable plant; vide ḳarama mowa and rama.

yalo, a variety of the native tomato; vide under gauta.

yama, a common tall grass of meadows, &c. Cymbopogon rufus, Kunth. used for zana and thatch.

yamḅururu (Sok.), Merremia angustifolia, Hill. fil. (Convolvulaceæ). A prostrate convolvulus with narrow leaves, wiry stems, and small pale yellowish flowers. In some districts called gadon machiji, q.v. Syn. gammon bawa, q.v. The name yamḅururu in Kontagora and elsewhere = Ipomœa eriocarpa, R. Br. and other spp.; the smaller variety of twining convolvulus common on fences, &c.

ya manya (Sok.), vide kain fakara.

yanbama (Sok.), Pennisetum Benthamii, Steud. var. (Gramineæ), a tall grass, 6 to 8 feet high, with cylindrical flower-spike like a smaller gero. “Elephant Grass.” cf. dawar kada.

yandi, a large tree used in native house-building. Ficus sp.

yan guriya = cotton seed; vide under abduga.

yar gari, a var. of cotton; vide under abduga.

yaro da dariya, vide under kwaruru.

yaro da manda, a var. of bean; vide under wake.

yaron kogi, vide under ḳaidajin ruwa.

yar unguwa, vide gasaya.

yaryaḍi, 1. Ipomœa sp. (Convolvulaceæ). A convolvulus or “Morning glory” (probably including several species). 2. yaryaḍi or yaryaḍin gona, a wild leguminous twiner with hairy leaves and pods in clusters. Vigna luteola, Benth. var. villosa, Baker.

yaryaḍin kura (Katagum), Gymnema sylvestre, R. Br. (Asclepiadeæ). A twiner with milky juice.

ya tabshi, a var. of the cotton plant; vide under abduga.

yatsa biat, vide hannu biat.

ya tsauri, a var. of the cotton plant; vide under abduga.

yauḍo, yabḍo, or yoḍo (Sok.), Ceratotheca sesamoides, Endl. (Pedaliaceæ). A herb related to sesame (vide riḍi), with mucilaginous juice and pink flowers; used in soup and medicinally; added to cereals and pulses to give cohesion in preparing various comestibles. (Etym. probably from the viscid sap). Syn. karkashi.

yauki (Kontagora), ?Crotalaria polychotoma, Taub. (Leguminosæ). A low pubescent herb with small yellow flowers; used medicinally. vide sa furfura.

yawa, fibre from various sources. 1. Chiefly that from a var. of the cultivated bean, Vigna sinensis, Endl. grown for the strong fibrous bark of the flowering peduncles, used for fishing lines, nets, horse-girths, &c. Syn. waken tumḳa (Sok.), waken tuḳa (Gobir), waken tuka (Kano). 2. the root-bark of the acacia ḍakwora, q.v. (Acacia Senegal), and other species of acacia, e.g. ḍunḍu and twatsa, q.v. used for strong ropes, &c. cf. meḍi. 3. Applied also to the fibre of Polygala butyracea, Hack. (cheyi of Kabba, enyigi of Nupé), grown by pagans in the south, Munchi, Togo, &c.

yaya kai ka fito, vide ḳaḳa kai ka fito.

yayan dara, seeds of various trees used in the game dara, and hence applied to a leguminous tree in the south, with prickly pods containing two large round seeds—Cæsalpinia Bonducella, Fleming.

yazawa or zazawa, an undershrub, wild or planted in compounds; the root is an acrid poison and is used for making tribal marks, and as an ingredient in some recipes for arrow-poison.

yoḍo, vide yauḍo.

Z

zabgai, arrow-poison; syn. yaḅi; vide kwankwani.

zabibi, a plant with a tuberous rhizome yielding a yellow dye. Curcuma sp. (Scitamineæ). cf. gangamau.

zabiya, a variety of date; vide under dabino.

zabo (Sok.), Aloe sp.—probably A. Barteri, Baker (Liliaceæ). An aloe with stiff speckled and hard pointed leaves; two varieties occur; 1. a bush variety with orange-yellow flowers. 2. zabon dafi, a cultivated variety planted near houses, having bright red flowers and becoming very succulent; used as an ingredient of arrow-poison; also called zabo ko. Syn. kabar giwa (Kano, Zaria, &c.).

zago, a var. of dawa, q.v.

zaḳami, Datura Metel, Linn. (Solanaceæ). “Metel” or “Hairy Thorn Apple.” A coarse branched annual with broad leaves and long white trumpet-shaped flowers, common in waste places about towns, &c. The seeds, in globular prickly capsules, are a deliriant poison. Syn. haukat yaro (from its use as an excitant to youths at sharo contests). In Sokoto and Katsina called babba jibji, q.v. The epithet sutura (East Hausa) is applied to this plant (from the folding of the unopened corolla).

zaḳi banza, Amaranthus viridis, Linn. (Amaranthaceæ). A common weed with spikes of inconspicuous greenish flowers; a form of native spinage used as a vegetable and sometimes cultivated. (Etym. from the insipid taste). Syn. ruḳuḅu (Sok. and Kats.), and malamkochi (Katsina).

zaḳi birri, vide under goriba.

zaḳo, a var. of bean; vide under wake.

zamarke, Sesbania punctata, DC. (Leguminosæ). A tall slender leguminous shrub of wet places, with pinnate leaves and yellow flowers; a sooty pigment got by scorching the stems is used to decorate huts; the stems are used for arrow-shafts. Syn. checheko (East Hausa) cf. also alambo.

zamfaruwa, a var. of gero, q.v.

zango, a var. of gero, q.v.

zayi? (Katagum, &c.), Boscia senegalensis, Lam. (Capparideæ); a low shrub with bunches of small whitish flowers and berry fruit; leaves and berries used as food. cf. anza.

zazar giwa or zazar gwiwa, vide sare gwiwa.

zazawa, vide yazawa.

zindi (Katagum, Kanuri?), Combretum sp. nr. C. Hartmannianum, Schweinf. (Combretaceæ); a tree with shining foliage and 4-winged fruit; probably the same as chiriri (C. Kerstingii, Engl. and Diels.), q.v.

zoḅarado, the calyces of the “Red Sorrel” or yakuwa (Hibiscus Sabdariffa Linn.), q.v. used as food, medicine, and a beverage.

zogalagandi, Moringa pterygosperma, Gaertn. (Moringaceæ). “Horse-radish Tree.” A tree with graceful foliage white flowers and long pendulous pods, frequently planted around houses, and therefore also called samarin danga. The winged seeds yield an oil (“Oil of Ben”). Syn. bagaruwar Makka (Sok.), barambo (Gobir), also sometimes called taḅa ni ka samu, q.v. (cf. kurnan nasara). The roots can be used as horse-radish and the young leaves as a vegetable.

zugu, vide under abduga.

zunguru, a var. of the bottle-gourd; vide under duma.

zunzuna, vide rawaya.

zurma, Ricinus communis, Linn. (Euphorbiaceæ). “Castor Oil Plant.” A tall shrub with large broad leaves and erect racemes of spiny capsules containing the seed from which castor oil is made; commonly planted in compounds or growing in waste places. The oil is chiefly used externally by Hausas, for sores on camels, &c. kufi = a dark oily extract from the mixed seeds of zurma, bi ni da zugu, and aduwa, q.v.

zuru, a var. of the bottle-gourd; vide under duma.

zuwo, Celtis integrifolia, Lam. (Urticaceæ). A large tree. “Nettle-tree.” Syn. dukki, q.v. cf. also dinkin.

INDEX TO GENERA AND POPULAR NAMES