Plants known by Tiv names — part 2 of 10 (Alev a genyi to Azulugh; Anuioixor), 389 plants in all. Each entry gives the English and scientific names where they are known, a description, and what the archive records of the plant’s medicinal, food and ritual uses and how it is grown.
Pigeon pea; Congo pea; Gungo pea; Cajan pea
Cajanus cajan
- Description
- A shrubby, semi-perennial legume grown for its protein-rich seeds, able to survive dry spells better than most pulses.
- As food
- Seeds are cooked and eaten like other peas, fresh or dried; young pods are also eaten.
- Cultivation
- A hardy shrub-legume that can be left standing for more than one season and tolerates poor soils.
Nicker bean; Bonduc nut; Grey nicker
Caesalpinia benduc
- Description
- A thorny climbing shrub bearing spiny seed pods that hold hard, grey “nicker” seeds.
- Medicinal uses
- Leaves, bark and roots are used across Africa for fever, headache, chest pain, and as a de-worming remedy; the seeds are traded specifically for medicinal use in parts of tropical Africa.
- Ritual uses
- The hard seeds are also strung as beads and used as counters/weights in traditional board games — a craft use rather than a ceremonial one.
- Cultivation
- A thorny climbing shrub of coastal and riverine scrub.
Black combretum; African combretum
Combretum nigricans
- Description
- A savanna tree or shrub of the Combretaceae family, found across the West African Sudan and Guinea savanna belt.
- Medicinal uses
- Combretum species are widely used across West Africa for wound care, stomach complaints, and fever; documentation specific to this species is thin.
- Cultivation
- A savanna woodland tree/shrub.
Senegal maytenus; Confetti tree
Maytenus senegalensis
- Description
- A thorny shrub or small tree found across the African savanna, valued for its roots and bark in traditional medicine.
- Medicinal uses
- Roots and bark are used across Africa for chest pain, rheumatism, snakebite, diarrhoea, eye infection, and wounds; also studied for antimalarial activity.
- Cultivation
- A thorny shrub of savanna and scrubland.
Confetti Tree, Red Spike-thorn, Confetti Spike-thorn
Maytenus senegalensis
- Description
- Maytenus senegalensis is a widespread African shrub or small tree in the Celastraceae family, recognized for its extensive use in traditional medicine and its ability to act as a pioneer species in restoring dryland woodlands. It is known for its spiny, wine-red branches, leathery blue-green leaves, and small, pinkish-red fruits.
- Medicinal uses
- The roots, bark, and leaves are extensively used in African traditional medicine to treat malaria, fever, stomach disorders, infections, pain, inflammation, and parasitic diseases.
- As food
- The edible fruits and leaves are occasionally used as soup flavorings, sauce ingredients, salt substitutes, and for fermentation in some African communities.
- Ritual uses
- Its spiny branches are used for protective fencing, while the wood serves in tool making, ritual baths, household items, and traditional weapons.
- Cultivation
- The plant is mainly propagated by seeds with dormancy treatment, while tissue-culture methods are used for faster and large-scale multiplication.
Wild plum; Wild lime; Yellow plum; Tallowwood
Ximenia americana
- Description
- A thorny shrub or small tree bearing a tart, edible yellow fruit, known across northern Nigeria as tsada.
- Medicinal uses
- Used across West Africa for malaria, fever, skin infections, wounds, diarrhoea, and constipation; the stem bark is used for gastric ulcers.
- As food
- The ripe fruit is eaten fresh or made into jams, drinks, and preserves.
- Cultivation
- A thorny, drought-tolerant shrub of savanna and bushland.
Kyasuwa grass; Annual buffalo grass
Pennisetum pedicellatum
- Description
- An annual savanna grass with bristly, purplish seed heads, common along roadsides and fallow land.
- As food
- Grazed and cut as livestock fodder.
- Cultivation
- Grows readily on disturbed and fallow ground; also used for thatching.
Sweet Orange
Citrus sinensis
- Description
- The orange tree is an evergreen, spiny, small-to-medium tree with aromatic glossy leaves, fragrant white flowers, and sweet, segmented orange fruits, native to Southeast Asia.
- Medicinal uses
- Oranges support immunity, heart health, digestion, respiratory wellness, skin care, anxiety reduction, cancer prevention, and kidney-stone control due to their vitamins, flavonoids, antioxidants, and essential oils.
- As food
- The fruit is widely eaten fresh, processed into juice, and used in cooking, baking, marmalades, and flavoring through zest and orange blossom water.
- Ritual uses
- Oranges and orange blossoms symbolize prosperity, purity, and abundance and are commonly used in weddings, cultural traditions, and spiritual offerings.
- Cultivation
- Orange trees are propagated by grafting and grown in sunny, warm climates on well-drained soils, with fruits harvested only when fully ripe and protected from common citrus pests and diseases.
Bitter orange, sour orange, or Seville orange
Citrus aurantium
- Description
- An evergreen tree (5–10 m) with a rounded crown, thorny branches, glossy aromatic leaves, fragrant white flowers, and sour, bitter leathery fruits with thick aromatic peel.
- Medicinal uses
- Used traditionally and in supplements for weight loss, metabolism, digestion, anxiety, sleep, inflammation, antioxidants, cardiovascular health, diabetes, and potential anticancer effects.
- As food
- Fruit is primarily used for marmalade; peel flavors liqueurs, desserts, soft drinks, and sauces; juice used in cooking; flowers added to tea.
- Ritual uses
- Used in Japanese New Year rituals (daidai), perfumes and cosmetics (neroli, petitgrain, bigarade oils), and as a natural insecticide (limonene).
- Cultivation
- Grows in subtropical/tropical climates, prefers well-drained fertile soil, propagated by seeds, cuttings, or grafting, and often used as rootstock for other citrus species.
Seville orange; Bitter orange; Sour orange
Citrus aurantium
- Description
- A citrus tree bearing bitter, sour-fleshed oranges, grown for its fruit, peel, and fragrant blossom.
- Medicinal uses
- Peel and blossom are used traditionally as a digestive aid and mild calming remedy; the fruit is valued as a vitamin C source.
- As food
- The bitter fruit is used in marmalades and drinks rather than eaten fresh; the peel flavors food.
- Cultivation
- Grown in home gardens and orchards; more cold- and drought-tolerant than sweet orange.
Monkey Orange
- Description
- Strychnos spinosa, commonly called Monkey Orange, is an African tree known for its edible, nutritious fruit but also its poisonous seeds; its various parts are used in traditional medicine for malaria, diabetes, snakebites, skin issues, and as an analgesic, though toxicity requires caution, say ResearchGate.net
- Medicinal uses
- Medicinal Uses (Traditional)
Infections: Treats malaria, intestinal worms, skin infections, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Pain & Inflammation: Root decoctions for colds, fever, inflamed eyes; leaf poultices for sores; fruit/root for snakebites.
Gastrointestinal: Root chewed for stomach disorders, used for dropsy (edema).
Other: Remedies for diabetes, hypertension, male organ disorders, and as ear drops for earaches.
Coatbuttons; Tridax daisy; Cobbler's pegs
Tridax procumbens
- Description
- A low, spreading weed with small daisy-like white flowers, common on waste ground and roadsides.
- Medicinal uses
- Widely used across Africa and Asia to stop bleeding and speed wound-healing; crushed leaves are applied directly to cuts.
- Cultivation
- A hardy weed of disturbed ground, waste land, and lawns.
Pearl millet; Bulrush millet; Bajra
Pennisetum typhoides
- Description
- A tall cereal grass and one of the most important dryland grain crops of the West African savanna.
- As food
- Grain is pounded or milled into flour for porridge (tuwo), pap, and flatbreads — a dry-season staple.
- Cultivation
- Highly drought- and heat-tolerant; grown on poor sandy soils where other cereals fail.
Ciliate love grass; Hairy love grass
Eragrostis cilians
- Description
- A small tufted annual grass with feathery seed heads, common in open and disturbed ground.
- As food
- Lightly grazed as forage.
- Cultivation
- A common wild grass of fields, roadsides, and waste ground.
Scarlet Tassel Flower, Scarlet Emilia, Lilac Tasselflower
Emilia coccinea
- Description
- Emilia coccinea is a fast-growing, annual tropical herb with tassel-like, vibrant red flowers. It thrives in disturbed areas, gardens, and open savannah-like habitats, preferring full sun and well-drained soils.
- Medicinal uses
- Widely employed in traditional medicine across Africa, India, and Southeast Asia:
External Treatments: Wounds, abscesses of the breast, sores, skin infections (craw-craw), yaws, ringworm.
Internal Treatments: Coughs, rheumatism, fever, asthma, jaundice, and dysentery.
Eye & Ear Care: Fresh leaf juice treats eye inflammations, night blindness, and earaches.
Reproductive & Children’s Health: Preventing miscarriages, treating syphilis, and convulsions in children.
Pharmacological Properties: Anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial (S. aureus, E. coli), analgesic, anti-diabetic, wound-healing.
Caution: Contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are hepatotoxic. Use should be moderated.
- As food
- Vegetable: Young leaves are edible and used as a leafy vegetable in Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, and parts of Nigeria.
Preparation: Chopped and cooked alone or with pulses (peas, beans), or added to sauces.
Taste: Can be bitter, limiting widespread culinary use.
- Ritual uses
- Love Charm: Leaves used in ritualized charms in parts of Southern Nigeria.
Medicinal Magic: Mixed with materials such as copper filings for wound treatment.
Ceremonial Washing: Leaf decoctions used in baths for newborns to protect against illness (e.g., Sierra Leone).
Spiritual Protection: Used to treat excessive crying or convulsions in infants, interpreted as spiritual disturbances.
- Cultivation
- Seed Propagation: Small seeds sown directly in the ground or in greenhouse trays; require light for germination.
Vegetative Propagation: Stem cuttings can be used during the growing season.
Division: Established plants can be divided in spring or autumn.
Growing Conditions: Full sun, well-drained soils; often found in gardens, disturbed areas, and savannah edges.
Coat Buttons or Tridax daisy
Tridax procumbens
- Description
- A trailing perennial herb with stems rooting at nodes, forming mats; opposite, serrated, hairy leaves; small daisy-like flowers (white/pale yellow rays, yellow disc); black, feathery seeds; strong taproot.
- Medicinal uses
- Wound healing, skin infections, anti-inflammatory/analgesic, digestive disorders, liver protection, fever, cough, malaria; promotes rapid healing and hemostasis.
- As food
- Leaves sometimes cooked as a vegetable; fodder for rabbits and poultry; nutritionally rich in potassium and B vitamins.
- Ritual uses
- Insect repellent (mosquitoes), hair tonic, symbolic in local rituals as a resilient plant.
- Cultivation
- Hardy, fast-growing; thrives in sunny, dry, or disturbed soils; propagates via seeds and stem cuttings; drought-resistant, low maintenance, can become weedy.
Dingy tasselflower; Yellow tassel flower
Emilia praetermissa
- Description
- A slender herb with small tasseled flower heads, native to West and Central Africa.
- Medicinal uses
- Leaves are used across West and Central Africa for ulcers, sores, hernia, pain, and tumours; crushed leaves are applied to wounds and sinus complaints, and the root is used for infant colic.
- Cultivation
- A wild herb of forest edges and clearings.
Sickle bush; Marabu weed; Bell mimosa
Dichrostachys cinerea
- Description
- A thorny shrub or small tree named for its curiously twisted, sickle-shaped seed pods and pink-and-yellow bicoloured flower spikes.
- Medicinal uses
- Roots, bark, and leaves are used across Africa for stomach complaints, snakebite, scorpion sting, toothache, and asthma; the root is used as a local anaesthetic.
- As food
- Foliage is a valued dry-season fodder, especially for goats.
- Cultivation
- Often left standing as a living fence; tolerant of poor, dry soils.
Bristly Starbur; Siarbur; Hausa thorn
Acanthospermum hispidum
- Description
- A low, bristly weed with spiny burred seeds that cling to fur and clothing.
- Medicinal uses
- Used across Africa for jaundice, stomach pain, fever, cough, snakebite, and skin ailments; the leaf is used as a pain-killer and laxative.
- Cultivation
- A common weed of cultivated and waste ground.
Spiny star bur; Bristly starbur; Hausa thorn
Acanthospermum hispidum
- Description
- A low, bristly weed with spiny burred seeds that cling to fur and clothing.
- Medicinal uses
- Used across Africa for jaundice, stomach pain, fever, cough, snakebite, and skin ailments; the leaf is used as a pain-killer and laxative.
- Cultivation
- A common weed of cultivated and waste ground.
Togo uapaca; Savanna uapaca
Uapaca togoensis
- Description
- A savanna and fringing-forest tree found from Senegal to Angola, known for its edible fruit and use in traditional medicine.
- Medicinal uses
- Fruit, leaves, and stem bark are used across Africa for fever, rheumatism, cough, jaundice, and infections.
- As food
- The fruit is eaten locally where available.
- Cultivation
- A tree of savanna woodland and riverine forest fringe.
Roselle; Red sorrel; Hibiscus; Sorrel
Hibiscus sabdariffa
- Description
- An erect annual shrub grown for its fleshy red calyces, which surround the seed pod after flowering.
- Medicinal uses
- Calyx infusions (a sour "tea") are used traditionally for high blood pressure, fever, and as a diuretic; studied for effects on blood pressure and cholesterol.
- As food
- Fresh or dried calyces are brewed into a tart red drink (zobo/bissap) and used in jams; young leaves are cooked as a sour vegetable.
- Cultivation
- Grown as an annual crop from seed; widely cultivated across Nigeria and West Africa for its calyces and leaves.
Rough-leaved hibiscus; Rough hibiscus
Hibiscus asper
- Description
- A rough-leaved annual or short-lived shrub related to roselle, found across the Sahel and savanna zones.
- As food
- Leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable, especially in the Sahel; young fruits are used to thicken soups.
- Cultivation
- Occasionally cultivated as a vegetable and fibre crop, particularly in Senegal and DR Congo; also grazed by livestock.
Hairy mitracarpus; Wild weed
Mitracarpus villosus
- Description
- A small, hairy annual weed of the coffee family, common on disturbed and cultivated ground.
- Medicinal uses
- Used across Africa for toothache, headache, wounds, burns, skin infections such as ringworm and scabies, and respiratory complaints.
- Cultivation
- A common wild weed of farmland, roadsides, and waste ground.
Thick-stalked pavetta; Pavetta
Pavetta crassipes
- Description
- A savanna shrub with thick-stalked leaf clusters, in the coffee family.
- Medicinal uses
- Leaves are widely used in West and Central Africa for fever, malaria, hypertension, mental illness, and respiratory disorders; scientific studies have supported antiprotozoal activity against the malaria parasite.
- As food
- Leaves are sometimes eaten as a pharmafood alongside their medicinal use.
- Cultivation
- A wild shrub of savanna woodland.
Sweet Potato
Ipomoea batatas
- Description
- Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a creeping perennial vine grown for its starchy, edible tuberous roots, with heart-shaped leaves, morning-glory-like flowers, and highly variable skin and flesh colors.
- Medicinal uses
- Sweet potato is valued for antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, wound-healing, and potential cancer-preventive properties due to its rich nutrient and phytochemical content.
- As food
- Its tubers and young leaves are widely eaten in diverse cooked forms and processed into starches and traditional dishes across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific.
- Ritual uses
- The crop holds deep cultural importance worldwide, featuring in ancient South American civilizations, Polynesian traditions, famine prevention history, and seasonal festivals.
- Cultivation
- It is propagated vegetatively in warm, frost-free climates on well-drained soils, harvested within months, and often cured after harvest to enhance storage and sweetness.
Black nightshade; Garden nightshade
Solanum nigrum
- Description
- A branching annual or short-lived herb bearing small white flowers and clusters of round black berries.
- Medicinal uses
- Leaves are used traditionally for skin conditions, mouth sores, and as a poultice; ripe berries are eaten but unripe green berries and other plant parts contain toxic solanine and should be avoided.
- As food
- Young leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable in many parts of Africa and Asia; ripe black berries are eaten in small amounts.
- Cultivation
- A common weedy herb of farmland, gardens, and disturbed ground worldwide.
Okra; Okro; Lady's fingers
Abelmoschus esculentus
- Description
- An annual crop plant grown for its edible, ridged seed pods, a member of the hibiscus/mallow family.
- Medicinal uses
- Mucilage from the pods has been studied for blood-sugar and cholesterol management.
- As food
- The immature seed pods are a widely eaten vegetable, cooked in soups and stews, valued for their mucilaginous thickening quality.
- Cultivation
- Grown as an annual warm-season crop from seed; a major vegetable crop across Nigeria and the tropics.
African copaiba balsam; Kerstings commiphora
Commiphora kerstingii
- Description
- A small tree or shrub of the frankincense/myrrh family, native to dry Sahelian West Africa.
- Medicinal uses
- Used traditionally (known as "ararrabi" in Hausa) for fever, measles, asthma, rheumatism, and venereal disease.
- Cultivation
- A wild tree of dry Sahelian woodland and scrub.
Elephant grass; Napier grass; Uganda grass
Pennisetum purpureum
- Description
- A tall, robust perennial grass forming dense clumps, one of the most important fodder grasses in the tropics.
- As food
- Grown extensively as green fodder for cattle and other livestock; also used for thatching, mulch, and erosion control.
- Cultivation
- Propagated by stem cuttings; fast-growing and cut repeatedly for fodder, tolerating poor soils and drought better than many other fodder grasses.
Dessert banana or sweet banana,
Musa sapientum
- Description
- A large herbaceous perennial (3–9 m) with a succulent pseudostem, massive glossy leaves, pendulous inflorescences, elongated seedless fruits that ripen yellow and sweet, and reproduces via suckers.
- Medicinal uses
- Unripe fruit and peel treat diarrhea and dysentery; leaves for wound dressing; flowers for diabetes; roots for urinary issues; stem juice for high blood pressure and snakebites; peel has antioxidant properties.
- As food
- Ripe fruits eaten raw or in desserts; unripe fruits cooked or fried; banana flour used for thickening and digestion; leaves used for wrapping and steaming food.
- Ritual uses
- Sacred in India and Southeast Asia; used in religious ceremonies, festivals, weddings, and offered to deities to symbolize fertility and prosperity.
- Cultivation
- Thrives in hot, humid tropics; propagated via suckers; planted 2–3 m apart; requires well-drained fertile soil, irrigation, and mulching; fruits in 9–10 months with ongoing production up to 20 years.
Banana; Dessert banana
Musa sapientum
- Description
- A large, tree-like herb grown for its clusters of sweet edible fruit, one of the most widely eaten fruits in the world.
- As food
- The ripe fruit is eaten fresh, and is also used in cooking, baking, and juices; unripe fruit is boiled or fried as a starchy food.
- Cultivation
- Propagated by suckers rather than seed; grown as a perennial crop in gardens and plantations across the tropics.
Ginger lily; Bush ginger; Spiral flag
Costus afer
- Description
- A tall, leafy herb with a distinctive spiralling stem, growing in clumps at forest edges and moist bushland.
- Medicinal uses
- Widely used in traditional medicine for stomach ache, diabetes, arthritis, cough, malaria, and eye complaints, and as a snakebite antidote.
- As food
- The tart, acid-flavored leaves are eaten; the rhizome is sometimes used as a spice.
- Cultivation
- A wild and semi-cultivated forest-edge herb, also used for wrapping food and for matting.
Castor oil plant; Castor; Palma christi
Ricinus communis
- Description
- A fast-growing shrub or small tree with large, star-shaped leaves and spiny seed capsules, grown for castor oil.
- Medicinal uses
- Castor oil pressed from the seeds is used traditionally and medicinally as a laxative and skin treatment; the seeds themselves contain the highly toxic protein ricin and are dangerous if chewed or swallowed — as few as several seeds can be fatal.
- Cultivation
- A hardy, fast-growing shrub, cultivated commercially for oilseed and often naturalized on waste ground.
Surga cane
Chrysophyllum africanum
- Description
- A forest tree in the star-apple family (now often classified as Gambeya africana), grown and gathered for its edible fruit and timber.
- As food
- The fruit is edible and sold in local markets, similar to other African star-apple species.
- Cultivation
- A forest tree, sometimes retained or cultivated for its fruit; the timber is also traded, often mixed with other Sapotaceae species.
African glory bush; Pink velvet
Heterotis rotundifolia
- Description
- A low, spreading or trailing herb with bright pink flowers, in the melastome family, popular as a groundcover.
- Medicinal uses
- An aqueous decoction of the aerial parts is used traditionally, including in Benin, for diarrhoea, intestinal worms, haemorrhoids, and high blood pressure.
- Cultivation
- Spreads readily via trailing stems that root at the nodes; grows wild in moist, disturbed ground and is also grown as an ornamental groundcover.
Thatching grass; Jaragua grass; Ruzi grass
Hyparrhenia rufa
- Description
- A tall, tufted perennial grass that dominates much of West Africa's savanna grassland, turning reddish-brown when mature.
- As food
- Grazed by livestock when young; also cut for hay and silage.
- Cultivation
- A wild savanna grass, also used for thatching roofs, making mats, and as pulp for paper; regenerates after the seasonal bush fires common in its habitat.
Soapberry; Climbing phyllanthus
Phyllanthus muellerianus
- Description
- A scrambling shrub or climber with small greenish flowers and spiny stipules, widespread across tropical Africa.
- Medicinal uses
- Leaves are used across West Africa for wound healing, and traditionally for menstrual disorders, dysentery, gonorrhoea, fevers, and skin eruptions; leaf extracts are documented to speed wound contraction in scientific studies.
- Cultivation
- A wild scrambling shrub of forest margins and fallow land, not commonly cultivated.
Velvet Bushwillow or Soft-leaved Combretum
Combretum molle
- Description
- A small to medium deciduous/semi-deciduous tree (3–10 m) with velvety young leaves, rough fissured bark, small yellow-green flowers in axillary spikes, and distinctive four-winged fruits; grows in savannas, rocky areas, and hillsides.
- Medicinal uses
- Used for wound healing, skin infections, gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory ailments, snakebites, malaria, obstetric care, oral hygiene; shows antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antidiarrheal activity.
- As food
- Leaves serve as livestock fodder; limited direct human consumption, sometimes included in medicinal decoctions.
- Ritual uses
- Smoke or bark used in rituals for courage, ceremonial child protection, and some taboos on wood use.
- Cultivation
- Propagated by seeds, root suckers, or truncheons; fast-growing, responsive to pruning/coppicing; prefers deep, well-drained soil, protected from drought/frost early on; susceptible to Ceratocystis stem cankers.
Velvet bushwillow; Hairy combretum
Combretum molle
- Description
- A savanna tree or shrub with velvety-textured leaves, common across African woodland and bushveld.
- Medicinal uses
- Boiled root is used across Africa for constipation, headache, stomach pain, fever, dysentery, and as a de-worming remedy; the bark exudes a gum applied to wounds.
- Cultivation
- A fire-tolerant savanna tree of woodland and bushveld.
