Part 2

=albasa=, Allium Cepa, Willd. (Liliaceæ). The onion. Two varieties are distinguished, viz. guda (Kano), or gudaji (Sok.), the common bulbous onion; and shafa (Kano), safa (Sok.), the spring onion; lawashi or gabu (Sok.) = onion leaves pounded and dried, sold in the form of balls and used in soup. cf. =tafarnuwa=.

=albasar kura=, Urginea nigritiana, Bak. (Liliaceæ), and other common bulbous plants growing wild.

=albasar kwaḍi=, Crinum yuccæflorum, Salisb. (Amaryllideæ); a common plant of damp places, with an umbel of large lily-like flowers, white with a purple stripe. (Other species are included and the names of this and the last are commonly confused.) The scarlet-flowered Hæmanthus rupestris, Bak. (Amaryllideæ), “Blood Flower”, bears the same name.

=algarif=, the seeds of the “Common” or “Garden Cress,” Lepidium sativum, Linn. vide =labsur=; sold as a medicine; a red variety =algaru ja= in small masses, and a black variety usually loose; preparations are made for external and internal use.

=alhaji=, Ærua tomentosa, Forst. (Amaranthaceæ); an erect plant with hoary white leaves and flowers. (Etym. from the completely white habit, but the name like =Ba-Fillatani=, q.v. is probably applied to other white plants). More generally known as =furfura ta gyatumi=, q.v.

=alibida=, vide =alubada=.

=aliliba=, Cordia abyssinica, R. Br. (Boragineæ); a tree with broad leaves, white flowers, and sweet yellow berries used in making allewa, &c.

=aliyara=, vide =ḳaguwa=.

=alkama=, Triticum sativum, Lam. sub-race T. vulgare, Vill. “Common Wheat;” or T. compositum, Linn. “Mummy,” “Miracle” or “Egyptian Wheat;” grown chiefly in the north on river-banks with irrigation. taliya, a sort of macaroni made from alkama flour; gurasa, a sort of native wheaten bread; punkaso (Kano), or fankaso, wheaten cakes fried in oil. The following are delicacies made from alkama:—dashishi, cakes like masa but made with honey-water; sunasar, a preparation of wheat with meat and butter; tuwon ḅaure = tuwo made with finely ground wheat and butter instead of water.

=alkaman tururuwa=, Spermacoce stachydea, DC. (Rubiaceæ); a common weed eaten by goats, &c. (Etym. tururuwa, a species of social harvesting ant).

=alubada= or =alibida=, Carpodinus hirsuta, Hua (Apocynaceæ); a woody climber; one of the rubber vines in the south.

=amai mussa= (Sok.), Eragrostis major, Hochst. (Gramineæ); a grass with an unpleasant smell. (Etym. “cat’s vomit”). Syn. =buddari= (Sok.), q.v, and =bunsurun fadama= (Katsina and East).

=amara=, Tacca involucrata, Sch. et Thon. (Taccaceæ); a wild perennial herb with an edible tuber; cultivated in some districts, chiefly by Fulani; in the Benué district gathered wild and sold in the form of a starchy meal. (The same as “South Sea arrowroot” of the Sandwich and Society Islands). vide also under =giginyar biri=.

=anguriya=, cotton seed, vide under =abduga=.

=anza= (Sok. Kats. &c.), =hanza= (Gobir), Boscia angustifolia, A. Rich. (Capparideæ); a pale-leaved shrub; the berries are edible and sometimes the bark is prepared with cereals as a food similarly to the plant =bagayi=, q.v. hence also called =anza rashin bagayi=; including also the broader-leaved B. senegalensis, Lam. cf. =zayi=.

=arakke= (Sok.), vide =rake=; Saccharum officinarum, L. one of the two species of sugar-cane.

=ararabi=, vide =hano=.

=ataras=, a var. of kola nut; vide under =goro=.

=atillis=, a tree, the nut of which yields an oil used medicinally as food, &c. Canarium Schweinfurthii, Engl. (Burseraceæ). “African Elemi Tree.”

=auduga=, vide =abduga=.

=awarwaro=, Ipomœa aquatica, Forsk. (Convolvulaceæ); a prostrate purple-flowered convolvulus with hastate leaves, in muddy and marshy places; (loosely applied to other species of convolvulus). Syn. =furen gyado= (because the roots are eaten by wart-hog).

=aya=, Cyperus esculentus, L. the “Tiger Nut” or “Rush Nut;” a sedge, cultivated for its small edible tuber.

=aya aya=, Cyperus rotundus, L. (Cyperaceæ); a common wild sedge with edible slightly fragrant tuberous root. Syn. =giri giri= (Sok.); vide also =ḍan Tunuga=. Other wild sedges, e.g. Cyp. Fenzelianus, Steud., &c. are included.

=ayaba=, Musa sapientum, L. (Scitamineæ); the Banana. Musa paradisiaca, L. the Plantain. =ayabar daji=, Musa sp. a wild species with astringent pulp and black stony seeds.

=ayana=, Vitis Thonningii, Baker, Vitis gracilis, Baker, and other species (Ampelideæ); species of wild vines with small berries. From the acidity of the leaves they are also called =yakuwar fatake= or =y. mahalba=. vide also =buḍa yau=.

=B=

=ba-anguri=, a variety of =gero=, q.v.

=baba=, =b. rini=, or =b. kore=; Indigo plant; chiefly Indigofera arrecta, Hochst. and other cultivated species of Indigofera (Leguminosæ); I. tinctoria, Linn. I. Anil, Linn., &c. cf. =talaki=. kwosusu = the second crop of =baba=, said to be the better; shuni = prepared indigo, the extracted blue dye-stuff, usually sold in cones or small masses and not used in dye-pits; shuḍi = cloth or thread dyed blue; tamaseki = a sort of home-made indigo prepared by women, from =baba= in pots.