S
sa baba sata, a species of cultivated bean;?the “yam bean,” vide giri giri.
saḅada or safada, vide under ḍorowa.
sabani, Tephrosia elongata, Hook. (Leguminosæ); a tall slender plant with pink flowers and pinnate leaves; used as a medicinal charm. Syn. samachi. (Etym. “rupture of friendship”—if a leaflet be sharply pulled apart it tears in a forked manner suggesting the parting of roads or disagreement, such as occurs when one challenges another to split it straight), cf. shege.
sabara, Guiera senegalensis, Lam. (Combretaceæ). A shrub with whitish dusty-looking leaves, very abundant in dry infertile regions; a typical plant of dry scrub localities with a small rainfall. Leaves used in various ways as medicine and also as food in some northern districts; burnt to fumigate cattle-pens, &c. to keep off flies; as maganin rongomi by women after parturition; in Sokoto a recognized prophylactic of leprosy; &c., &c.
saḅi, vide baya, Panicum albidulum, Kunth. (Gramineæ). A wild grass with edible grain gathered by sweeping a calabash across the heads. (Etym. from the method of gathering saḅi, and thus perhaps applied to more than one species). cf. garaji.
saḅi or shiḅa = carded cotton; vide under abduga.
sabko (or sauko) bubukuwa, vide bubukuwa.
sabulun kuyangi, Zornia diphylla, Pers. (Leguminosæ), a low herb with paired leaflets; sometimes used as fodder and medicinally; said to form a slight lather with water. (Etym. “slaves’ soap”). Syn. sabulun sallo.
sabulum mata (Sok. Zanf. and Kats.), Vernonia primulina, O. Hoffm. (Compositæ). An erect plant, 1 to 2 feet high, with blue thistle-like flowers. Syn. tozalin kura.
safa (Sok.), or shafa (Kano and East), spring onion; vide albasa.
sa furfura (Sok.), Crotalaria polychotoma, Taub. (Leguminosæ). A small herb with yellow flowers and pale pubescent leaves; supposed, if accidentally given to an infant, to cause the hair to turn grey before puberty.?Syn. yauki, q.v.
sagagi (Katagum), Indigofera simplicifolia, Lam. (Leguminosæ). A stiff-branched undershrub with small narrow pods.
sa hankaki dako, Polygala arenaria, Willd. (Polygalaceæ). A small field herb, used medicinally in cases of serious internal disease, syphilis, &c. (Etym. “cause the crows to wait,” because supposed to be very poisonous). Syn. sha ni ka san ni; and gujiyar dawaki (Zanfara).
sainya (Kano, Kats., &c.), Securidaca longipedunculata, Fres. (Polygalaceæ). A shrub with purple flowers and a winged seed. The root has a rank smell and is used medicinally in many ways, as a purge, worn as a charm, &c. Syn. uwar magunguna (Sok., &c.—“mother of medicines”). It is an occasional ingredient in some prescriptions for arrow-poison.
sakata, a var. of yam, said to be inferior to others and not used for sokwara. (Dioscorea alata, L.). cf. doya.
salla, vide shalla.
samachi, vide sabani.
samarin danga, a name for the tree Moringa pterygosperma (vide zogalagandi), because commonly planted as a compound fence.
sambara = dawa or gero, &c. half-grown at harvest, and left to mature later.
samberu, a tree the leaves of which are poisonous to cattle.
samsam, vide under riḍi.
sandalu, vide under goro.
sandan biri, s. dutsi, or s. yan bori, vide under giginyar biri.
sandan mayu, a name for more than one tree with magical uses; vide under bakin mutum and dawo.
sanga sanga (Sok. and West), Cassia occidentalis, Linn. Syn. rai ḍore, q.v.
saniya, an Asclepiad plant with milky sap; vide under rojiya and tafo ka sha mama.
sankachen dawa, s. gero = corn reaped and laid out in lines to dry.
sankwo (Kano), Syncolostemon ocymoides, Sch. et Thon. (Labiatæ); a wild herb related to tumuku, q.v. with wrinkled leaves, spikes of deep red flowers, and a tuberous root. Syn. tumukun biri.
sansami (or sasămi), Stereospermum Kunthianum, Cham. (Bignoniaceæ). A small tree with smooth bark, beautiful pink flowers and long narrow pendulous pods. The bark is used medicinally. Syn. jiri. (This tree is apparently held in much respect; in Sokoto, &c. called ḍan sarikin itatuwa, and not cut for firewood). kauchin sansami, the parasitic plant Loranthus (vide kauchi), when growing on this species is considered a lucky find.
farin sansami, vide shunin biri, and halshen sa.
sansami (Sok. and Kats.) = foliage.
sansari, vide under kyamro.
sarakuwar sauro (Katsina, &c.), Leucas martinicensis, R. Br. (Labiatæ); an odorous weed with whorls of small white flowers. (Etym. because supposed to be incompatible with mosquitoes). Syn. ḍeiḍoyar gona.
saran waga, vide under goro.
sarawan goro, cf. proverb sarawan goro a zanche ni—2 calabashes of kola nuts being bought by two persons are divided for fairness into equal halves, either buyer taking one-half of each.
sare gwiwa, Hygrophila spinosa, T. Anders. (Acanthaceæ); an erect hard plant of damp places with blue flowers and long spines. (Etym. “prick the knee”). Syn. zazar giwa, and dayin giwa.
sarikin jibji (s. juji), vide under fasa ḳabba and babba juji. (Species of Boerhaavia, Trianthema, and Portulaca are all somewhat succulent weeds of waste places and rubbish heaps, and their names are often interchangeable).
sarḳaḳiya, Dichrostachys platycarpa, Welw. (Leguminosæ); a very thorny scrambling shrub in the bush forming dense thickets; a sort of “wait a bit thorn.” Sometimes loosely called dufuwa, baḳin gumbi and ḳumchi, q.v.
sarri? (Bauchi), a plant used as a neutralizing bath in tanning leather. (? = katsari).
sasabani (Hadeija, &c.), Parkinsonia aculeata, L. (Leguminosæ). “Jerusalem Thorn.” (Arab. sasaban, Sesbania ægyptica, Poir.). An exotic tree with yellow flowers and narrow pinnate leaves, planted in towns. In Sokoto called by the Ful. name sharan labbi. cf. alambo.
sawaye, vide under abduga.
sawu dubu, Ipomœa dissecta, Willd. (Convolvulaceæ). A small ground trailer with white flowers and deeply divided leaves. (Etym. “1000 foot-prints,” from the numerous dissect leaves).
sawun gauraka, vide ḳafar fakara.
sawun gwanki, a flat-leaved stemless herb, used as a medicine for hunters.
shafa (Kano), or safa (Sok.). A variety of onion; vide albasa.
shair (Arab.), Hordeum sativum, Pers. Barley; rarely grown in N. Nigeria.
sha ka sani, vide sa hankaki dako.
shalla (Kano and East), or salla (Sok.). A tall reed with light stems growing in marshes in the north; stems used for screens called feḍḍa, &c. A bulrush. Typha australis, Sch. and Thonn. bambana = the flowering or fruiting head, called also geron tsuntsaye (Kano), or tumun shalla. laka = the soft edible core of the immature flowering head.
shamrayi, vide karan kabau.
shanshera, unhusked rice; vide under shinkafa.
shantu, a long narrow var. of the bottle-gourd; vide under duma.
sharan labbi (Sok. Ful.), vide sasabani.
sha shatau, a malam’s charm to secure favour, hence applied to some plants with a similar use, e.g. Jussiæa villosa, Lam. (Onagraceæ), an erect weed of wet places with yellow flowers, used as a medicine or charm by wrong-doing slaves and others. (Etym. shashasha = simpleton or irresponsible person who is treated with lenient ridicule rather than seriously).
shedari, a mat made from the unexpanded fronds of the Fan Palm, vide giginya and murli.
shege, a term similar to sabani, q.v. applied to several leguminous weeds with leaves which tear in an irregular manner.
sheḳani or sheḳar zomo, Vernonia sp. near V. pumila, (Compositæ); a low herb with thistle-like flower and broad flat leaves; the root-tubers are bitter and used medicinally for venereal and other diseases. (Syn. ba gashi? Kontagora—from the bristly pappus).
sheme, vide kyamro.
shiḅa or saḅi = carded cotton; vide under abduga.
shibra or shura, vide under gero.
shinaka (Sok. Kats., &c.), Ctenium elegans, Kunth. (Gramineæ). A grass about 2 feet high with a single one-sided bristly flower-spike. Syn. wutsiyar kusu. (The name includes the similar species Schœnefeldia gracilis, Kunth. with several one-sided flower-spikes). Used in thatching.
shinkafa, Oryza sativa, Linn. (Gramineæ). Rice; cultivated in marshes and inundated localities. shanshera or burungu = rice grain in the husk; ḍanyen gumi = husked but unboiled rice; gumi = husked rice boiled and dried; bawu (Sok. Ful.?), or shinkafa wutsiya = rice unsown but growing sporadically from fallen grains; often harvested and eaten.
shinkafe, or lalaki (Sok.), Oryza silvestris, Stapf. Wild Rice; common in marshes and pools; much used for thatch and eaten in scarcity; (= Ful. nanare, name used equally by Hausas in Sokoto). Syn. shinkafar rishi (Katsina and East; rishi = wart-hog, gadu or mugun dăwa, which eats the roots).
shirinya, Ficus sp. (Urticaceæ). Narrow-leaved fig-tree. A large tree with milky juice and small figs. Syn. shiriya (Sok.).
shiwaka, Vernonia amygdalina, Delile (Compositæ). A shrub with whitish flowers, wild and commonly planted in compounds; the root is used as a tooth-stick and bitter tonic, and the leaves medicinally in various ways. maye (Sok.), or fatte (Kano), or fate fate (East Hausa), is a secret medicine of women, prepared from the leaves along with other native drugs.
shiwakar jan garigari, a shrub with bitter properties like the above. (Etym. because said to grow in places of red soil). Anaphrenium pulcherrimum, Schweinf. (Anacardiaceæ), and probably others.
shuni, prepared indigo; the blue dye-stuff extracted from baba, usually sold as blue cones or lumps.
shunin biri (Kontagora), Lonchocarpus laxiflorus, G. et P. (Leguminosæ). A small tree with bunches of purple flowers. Syn. farin sansami (Sok. and Kats.), halshen sa (Zanfara). In some pagan districts this is called babar talaki, and used as a dye; vide talaki.
shura or shibra, vide under gero.
siliyar sulkuwa, vide under rumfar gada.
siyayi or tsiyayi = ḳeḳasheshe; vide under rama.
soso, Luffa ægyptiaca, Mill. (Cucurbitaceæ). “Loofah gourd;” a climber with yellow flowers and cucumber-shaped fruit with a fibrous vascular skeleton used as a scrubber or strainer, &c. Pulp of immature fruit eaten cooked. soson yama, Luffa acutangula, Roxb. a species with larger fruit with longitudinal ridges; (called also soson wanka, because more used as a loofah in washing).
subtu or sutu; cotton before carding, pulled by hand after removal of the seeds by a roller on a stone; vide under abduga.
sunasar = a food made from wheat; vide under alkama.
sure (Sok.) = yakuwa, q.v. Hibiscus Sabdariffa, Linn. “Red Sorrel.”
suren fadama (Sok.), Triumfetta pentandra, A. Rich. (Tiliaceæ); an erect branching undershrub with small echinate fruits which adhere to the clothing; vide ḍan kaḍafi. The leaves are sometimes used as chusar doki; vide under kuka.
surendi, vide dayi.
sutura, a species of Euphorbia with milky juice; called also tutar yan sariki; (vide also under zaḳami).