D
dabagira, vide under aduwa.
dabino, Phœnix dactylifera, Linn. (Palmeæ). Date Palm. Varieties of date are:—zabiya or jan dabino, a long red sweet variety; maga or ḍan damana, a stoneless date. kilili = flowers of the date. dabinon biri, a low species of palm with small yellow date-like fruit, found in ravines; used in weaving mats, straw hats, &c. Syn. kajinjiri. (Phœnix reclinata?).
dabrin saniya, vide under gadon machiji.
dadawa or dawa dawa, a grass; vide gyazama.
daddawa (Kano), or daudawa (Sok.), black fermented cakes made from the seeds of the ḍorowa, q.v. Syn. takaluwa.
ḍaḍori or ḍoḍoriya (Kano and Sok.), Vitis quadrangularis, Linn. (Ampelideæ); a vine with quadrangular succulent jointed stems, climbing on trees. (Etym. connected with the multiple branching at the joints). Syn. tsatsarar kura. “Edible-stemmed Vine.”
dafaddu, Elk’s-horn fern; an epiphyte. Platycerium æthiopicum.
dafara, Vitis pallida, Baker (Ampelideæ); a vine bearing a kind of wild grapes; the root-bark forms a viscid solution which is mixed with native cement for lining dye-pits, &c. Syn. loda or lodar marina, cf. also baba rodo. The fruit, used in soup, is sometimes called lubiya, q.v.
dagera, Combretum sp. (Combretaceæ). A gum-yielding tree. Syn. chiriri.
daiyo (Ful?), vide under lojiya, bauje, &c.
dakushe, vide kas kaifi.
ḍakwora, Acacia Senegal, Willd. (Leguminosæ); a thorny acacia, with spikes of white flowers and grey bark; the source of the true “gum-arabic.” Ar. hashab. vide also yawa and meḍi. The name includes the similar Acacia Dudgeoni, Craib.
dalaka, a variety of kola nut; vide under goro.
dali (Kano, Katsina, &c.), also dala, Commiphora Kerstingii, Engl. (Burseraceæ). A soft-wooded tree with smooth green bark, planted around native compounds. Syn. bazana (Kano and Zaria), gurzun dali (Katagum, &c.), hana gobara (Zanfara, from the wood and foliage being difficult to ignite). ka ḳi ganin bula (Zanfara); also bar na gada (because long-lived and inherited).
dalo, Combretum glutinosum, Perr. (Combretaceæ); a tree resembling chiriri and taramniya, q.v.
damaigi, Chrozophora senegalensis, A. Juss. (Euphorbiaceæ); a common weed with small red flowers; used medicinally. Syn. ḅauren kiyashi, q.v. One of the ingredients in the native prescription rigya kafi, q.v.
damana biyu, vide ḍan arbain, a variety of bean.
damba =?Andropogon tectorum, Sch. et Th. (Gramineæ); a tall grass of marshes, &c., used as fodder when young, and for zana when mature.
damro or dauro, a variety of millet (Pennisetum spicatum, B. and S.), similar to maiwa, q.v. cf. gero.
ḍan arbain, a variety of bean planted near water and supposed to ripen in 40 days. Syn. damana biyu (Sok. and Kano), and kaka biyu (Gobir).
ḍan damana, a variety of date; vide under dabino.
dandami, vide under lallen shamuwa.
dandana, Schwenkia americana, Linn. (Solanaceæ); a herb with narrow tubular flowers; used medicinally. Syn. parpatse or farfatse (Kano).
ḍan ḍata (ḍan ḍwata), vide ḍataniya, a bitter grass. Thelepogon elegans, Roth.
ḍan farkami (Sok.), Monechma hispida, Hochst. (Acanthaceæ); a common weed of pastures, with rough leaves and white flowers. Syn.?fiso (Sok. and Kats.), fisawa (Katagum).
ḍan garraza = flowers of the tamarind tree—(hudar tsamiya).
ḍan kaḍafi or hankaḍafi, the name of a crab-louse, hence applied to more than one plant with seeds which adhere to the clothing like burs. (Etym. similar to “Cleavers”). Chiefly = Desmodium lasiocarpum, DC. (Leguminosæ). Syn. maḍaḍafi, q.v. Also Triumfetta pentandra, A. Rich. (Tiliaceæ), vide suren fadama.
dankali (Kano, &c.), Ipomœa Batatas, Lam. (Convolvulaceæ). Sweet Potato. Red and white varieties are known. Syn. dukuma and kudaku (Sok. and Zanfara), generally = the red one; lawur = the white one. kugundugu, a name used on the Benue, Yola, &c. = Yor. kukun duku.
dankon kuyangi, dried leaves of the convolvulus Ipomœa pilosa, Sweet, and other species; vide yako and barmatabo; used medicinally.
danko maiwari, Ficus sp. a tree in the south, yielding an inferior rubber.
ḍan kwataho, a variety of kola nut; vide under goro.
ḍan kwoloje, a variety of bean; vide under wake.
ḍan marike (Katagum, &c.), Indigofera secundiflora, Poir. (Leguminosæ). vide under marike.
ḍan Tunuga or kajiji ḍan Tunuga; the fragrant tuber of a sedge, Cyperus sp. (Tunuga = a town in French Borgu). Probably Cyperus rotundus, cf. aya aya and kajiji.
ḍan Uda or Ba-Ude, a variety of bean, half white half black; (cf. a variety of sheep of the same name. Udawa a section of Fulani); vide under wake.
danya, Spondias sp. (Anacardiaceæ); a tree with pinnate leaves and yellow plum-like fruit of pleasant flavour. The fruit is called nunu. cf. also tsadar Masar.
ḍanyen gumi = husked but unboiled rice; vide gumi and shinkafa.
danyi (Sok.), vide dayi.
ḍan zago, a kind of bean, vide under ḅarankachi.
darambuwa = armlets made of plaited grass, hence applied to several species of grass; vide karani, gaji, jema, &c.
dargăza, Grewia mollis, Juss. (Tiliaceæ); a shrub with small yellow flowers; the bark is mucilaginous and used in soup, and occasionally to harden mud floors.
dashi, Balsamodendron africanum, A. Rich. (Burseraceæ). “African Myrrh.” “African Bdellium.” A shrub with the habit of the Blackthorn, yielding a fragrant gum-resin used medicinally and as a scent for clothing. namijin dashi, Balsamodendron pedunculatum, Kotschy. et Peyr. A shrub somewhat similar to the above but less fragrant.
dashishi, vide under alkama.
ḍata or ḍwata, a small bitter native tomato; vide under gauta.
ḍataniya or ḍwatana, Thelepogon elegans, Roth. (Gramineæ); a bitter grass given to horses as a tonic. Syn. gishirin ḍawaki and ḍan ḍata. (Etym. from the bitter taste).
datsi, Aristida Sieberiana, Trin. (Gramineæ); a long-awned grass, common in the north. jan datsi vide jan bako.
dauḍa or kwardauḍa, Dicoma tomentosa, Cass. (Compositæ); a small thistle-like weed. Syn. farin dayi. (Etym. perhaps from use as a local application to putrescent wounds).
dauḍar Maguzawa,?Blepharis linearifolia, Pers. (Acanthaceæ); a prickly plant with blue flowers. Syn. faskara toyi, and?gigi, q.v.
dauḍar ruwa, vide limniya.
daudawa (Sok.), vide daddawa and ḍorowa; vide also under kiriya. daudawa beso, seeds of yakuwa (Hibiscus Sabdariffa, Linn.), q.v. boiled and prepared either for food or as a medicinal vehicle, daudawar kuka, seeds of kuka (Adansonia digitata), made into cakes, &c.
dauro, vide damro.
dawa, Sorghum vulgare, Pers. (Gramineæ). “Guinea Corn.” “Great Millet.” “Durra.”
The following are some of the numerous varieties:—abantoko (Illo); a chi da gero—grows rapidly and is ripe with the gero;
a chi da kara, matures at the same season as sugar-cane (takanḍa);
a chi da nono (like farafara), a soft grain only used for kunu and not for tuwo;
akwuya, a yellow grain used for horses;
bakin kada, a variety with a long head;
bakin raḳumi (from the slender quivering habit), the same as ḳerama;
bugundare or Ba-Gwandare, a variety with a compact head; (cf. a variety of cotton; vide abduga);
farafara, a white variety;
giwa kamba, a white variety larger than farafara, late maturing;
hannun giwa, white with a large head of grain;
janjari (Sok. = jigari, Ful.) or janari, a red inferior grain which makes red kunu and tuwo;
jar dawa, a red grain used for horses;
kaura, considered the best for horses, common in Zanfara; in two varieties, viz.:—kaura mai farin kwono (or mai farin soshia), and kaura mai baḳin kwono;
ḳerama, a red grain with loose nodding panicle (= bakin raḳumi);
maikeri, early maturing and considered one of the best;
makafo da wayo, a soft sweet variety, a luxury (dawar sarakuna);
malle (Sokoto West), planted in wet places;
mallen Kabi, the same as ḳerama;
mallen mama or mallen Zanfara, a larger nodding variety like the last;
marmare, a soft sweet variety, nearly the same as makafo da wayo; eaten whole;
masakowa or mazakwa (Ful. maskwari), a dry-season corn, grown in alluvial soil left as the rivers fall; (chiefly in Adamawa and Bornu); sometimes eaten whole after cooking;
wayo, a red or yellow variety;
zago, the same as kaura.
Burtuntuna = Ustilago sp. a guinea corn smut, forming a black powder in the ear; also called ḳatsa ḳatsa, and bunsuru.
gyamro = secondary shoots of guinea corn from the roots left at harvest; said to be injurious to animals.
domana, a gummy blight; (?Aphis Sorghi).
karan dafi, the red leaf sheaths of certain forms of dawa, used as a red dye.
kusumburuwa, corn growing up anywhere from stray seeds; sometimes popularly believed to grow from an unhusked grain and not always maturing. The stems are used for flutes (sarewa).
sambara, dawa or gero half-grown at harvest and left to mature later. cf. also karmami and yabainya.
dawa dawa or dadawa, a grass; vide gyazama.
dawar kada (d. rafi, d. dorina, &c.), Sorghum halepense, Pers. a very tall riverside grass with pith in the stems; the probable ancestor of cultivated dawa; one of several called “Elephant Grass.”
dawo (?Hausa; Yoruba ai-da), Tetrapleura Thonningii, Benth. (Leguminosæ); a large tree with thick 4-angled pods sold as a market drug in the south; cf. kalangon daji and sandan mayu.
dayi, Centaurea Calcitrapa, Linn. (Compositæ). “Star-thistle.” A thistle with long straight spines, common in fields, &c.; eaten by camels; one of the plants sometimes called “caltrop;” cf. Tsaido. Syn. ḍanyi (Sok.), and surendi (Kats.). namijin dayi, Lactuca sp. a species of wild lettuce; probably including several field plants of the Nat. Ord. (Compositæ).
dayin giwa, vide under sare gwiwa.
ḍeiḍoya (ḍoiḍoya or ḍoḍoya), Ocimum americanum, Linn. (Labiatæ); a fragrant herb allied to basil. (The name includes other introduced species planted near houses:—Ocimum viride, Willd. Fever plant of S. Leone and Liberia. Oc. basilicum, Linn. Sweet Basil. Æolanthus Buettneri, Gürke, &c.)
ḍeiḍoyar kare or ḍ. fadama, Hyptis Spicigera, Lam. (Labiatæ). A weed of waste places. Syn. riḍin kada. ḍ. gona, Leucas martinicensis, R. Br. (Labiatæ). An odorous weed with whorls of small white flowers. Syn. sarakuwar sauro (Kats.).
dinkin, the young leaves of certain plants used fresh with ground-nuts, salt, pepper, &c. made up as food; chiefly d. ḍinya (v. ḍinya); also of zuwo, q.v. and sometimes used of rama and other plants with edible leaves.
ḍinya (Kano), ḍumya (Sok.), Vitex Cienkowskii, Kotschy et Peyr. (Verbenaceæ); a common tree with digitate leaves, fragrant flowers, and a black plum-like fruit used in making maḍi; vide under dinkin; ḅurzu or ḳurzun ḍinya = ḳwalon ḍinya, the stone of the fruit.
ḍinyar biri, Vitex diversifolia, Bak., a shrub or small tree with fragrant leaves, and flowers similar to those of ḍinya.
dirin da rani (Kano), a variety of rama, q.v.
ḍiwa, Rhytachne congoensis, Hack., a tall grass; used for making screens, zana, &c.
ḍiyan hanwawa (Sok.), Ctenolepis cerasiformis Hook. f. (Cucurbitaceæ). A twiner with scarlet berries; (hanwawa or hawainya = chamæleon); syn. namijin garafuni.
ḍoḍoriya, Vitis quadrangularis, Linn. (Ampelideæ), vide ḍaḍori.
ḍoiḍoya or ḍoḍoya, vide ḍeiḍoya.
doka, Isoberlinia doka, Craib. et Stapf (Leguminosæ); a large tree with white flowers, shining leaves and large flat pods; very abundant in central Hausaland. fara doka, Isoberlinia Dalzielii, Craib. et Stapf, a large tree closely allied to the last, with paler leaves and bark.
domana, a gummy blight on Guinea Corn and other cereals; (?Aphis Sorghi).
domashi, Vernonia Kotschyana, Schultz. (Compositæ); an under-shrub with bitter root, used as a tonic-medicine, &c. domashin maza? (Katagum), vide under matsarmama.
ḍorowa or ḍorawa, Parkia filicoidea, Welw. (Leguminosæ). “African Locust Bean Tree;” a large acacia-like tree with pendulous balls of deep-red flowers and bunches of pods; the seeds and the mealy yellow pulp of the pods are used as food. kaluwa = seeds of ḍorowa, which are made into black fermented cakes called daudawa (Sok.) or daddawa (Kano), and also takaluwa; makuba = fermented extract of husks of ḍorowa pods, used for hardening beaten floors, sides of indigo pits, &c. saḅada or safada (Kano) = young fruiting heads of ḍorowa (etym. from resemblance in shape and surface to a plaited garment of that name). tutu (or turu-turu) = the red pendulous flower-balls (sucked by boys); gundar tutu = the unexpanded flower-buds; garda = the unripe pods when bright brown in colour and beginning to form seeds (the name of a brown-winged dove). The successive stages from bud to pod are:—kashin awaki, kashin raḳuma, tutu, safada, garda. harawan ḍorawa = the membranous lining of the pods used as a fibre for tying arrows, &c.
doya, Dioscorea sativa, Linn. D. prehensilis, Benth. D. abyssinica, Hochst. D. alata, L. (Dioscorideæ). Cultivated yams. vide also sakata, and ḳarasa (doyar kudu).
doyar bisa, the edible solid bulbs in the leaf-axils of certain species of Dioscorea. Syn. tuwon biri.
doyar daji, wild species of Dioscorea.
doyar kurege, Curculigo gallabatensis, Schweinf. (Amaryllideæ); a yellow-flowered herb with a stout vertical rhizome. Syn. muruchin makeruwa, q.v.
doyar giwa, vide ḳayar giwa.
dufuwa, a dense thorny thicket, cf. gumbi and ḳumchi; generally applied to the acacia called sarḳaḳiya, q.v.
dukki or dunki (Sok. and Kats.), Celtis integrifolia, Lam. (Urticaceæ); “Nettle Tree;” a large tree with serrate leaves somewhat like those of the nettle; the young leaves are used in soup and as fodder. Syn. zuwo (Kano, Zaria, &c.). cf. also dinkin.
dukuma, vide under dankali.
dulu, Ficus sp. a tree with large figs; common in ravines.
duma, Lagenaria vulgaris, Ser. (Cucurbitaceæ). “Bottle Gourd,” “Club Gourd” or “White Pumpkin;” the common white-flowered cultivated gourd with soft foliage and variously shaped fruits known by different names:—buta, gora, and gyandama, common water-bottle gourds; jallo, a small pear-shaped one used to carry ruwan alwalla; ḳoḳo, kwokwo or kwachiya, a small-sized calabash used as a cup; kumbu, ditto with cover, used as a small box for snuff, &c.; ḳwariya, common larger calabash; masaki and mabakachi, the largest-sized calabash used at market, and for separating grain from husk, &c., &c. ludai or luddai (Sok.), bottle gourd with narrow neck, split to form spoons, ladles, &c. kololo, similar to luddai, with hollow neck; gako (Sok.), like luddai with solid neck; moda, larger bottle gourd with curved neck which serves as a handle, the body pierced for use as a dipper or handled pot; shantu, long narrow gourd used as a musical instrument; bututu, the narrow portion of shantu or luddai, &c. used as a blowing horn; jemo, a short wide-mouthed club-shaped or large pear-shaped gourd, used to hold milk, &c.; zuru and zunguru, club-shaped or cylindrical gourds used in the application of lalle to the hand; kurtu, bottle or club-shaped with narrow neck, the wider portion used for immersing the hand in staining with henna, the narrow half used as a blowing horn; kwoton tadawa, an ovoid tubercled gourd, used for native ink-pots, &c. vide also kulbutu or tsana (Sok.), an edible variety resembling a cucumber, and kurzunu, a tubercled variety of the same.
dumar dutsi, vide under gaḍaukuka.
dumar kada, d. rafi, Ipomœa repens, Lam. (Convolvulaceæ); a common trailing convolvulus with broad round leaves and purple flowers.
dumar kwaḍi, Ipomœa sp. a var. of convolvulus.
ḍumya (Sok.), vide ḍinya (Kano).
ḍunḍu, Dichrostachys nutans, Br. (Leguminosæ); a thorny shrub like an acacia, with pendulous lilac-coloured flower-spikes, and clusters of twisted pods; fibre from the root-bark. vide under meḍi and yawa.
dunki, vide dukki.
durumi, Ficus Syringifolia, Werb. (Urticaceæ); a very familiar species of fig-tree with small figs and heart-shaped shining leaves, affording splendid shade.
dushe (Kano), dussa (East Hausa), Acacia Seyal, Del. (Leguminosæ); the “Talh” gum-acacia; a thorny tree with yellow flower-balls and an ochrey powder on the bark. Syn. jimshi (Sok.), and?gishishiya (Zanfara).
duza (Sok. and Zanf.), Setaria aurea, Hochst. (Gramineæ). “Bristly Fox-tail Grass;” a grass of damp places, used for thatch. Syn. ḳyasuwar rafi or ḳ. ta fadama. cf. ḳyasuwa.
ḍwata or ḍata, a small native bitter tomato; vide under gauta.
ḍwatana, vide ḍataniya.