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.