F
fafewa (Sok. and Zanf.), Pennisetum unisetum, Benth. (Gramineæ); a tall grass with hollow stems and sharp leaf-edges. (Etym. because it rasps the hand—fafe = to scrape.) Syn. karan kauje and korkoro (Kontagora).
falfoli (Sok.), Æschynome sensitiva, Swartz. (Leguminosæ); a tall slender plant of marshes, with spongy pith used for floats (karu), &c. Syn. gombiliki, and bambamko (East Hausa).
fankaso or punkaso, vide under alkama.
fara doka, Isoberlinia Dalzielii, Craib. et Stapf (Leguminosæ); a large tree; vide under doka.
farafara, a white var. of dawa, q.v.
fara geza, Combretum aculeatum, Vent. (Combretaceæ); a shrub with white flowers (somewhat resembling hawthorn), and 4-angled fruit.
fara ḳaya, Acacia Sieberiana, DC. (Leguminosæ); a gum-yielding acacia with long white thorns, dark foliage, and white flower-balls. Syn. bauji (East Hausa).
fara saura, Pulicaria crispa, Clarke (Compositæ); a white-leaved weed with yellow flowers, common in fields. (Etym. saura or sabra = fallow fields). Syn. bafuri, and balbela, q.v.
farfatse or parpatse, vide dandana.
fari, vide under abduga.
fari, a var. of Water Melon; vide under guna.
farichin shafo, or ḳumbar shafo (= “falcon’s claw”); a tall acacia with strong curved thorns, the same as or closely similar to ḳarḳara, q.v. Acacia campylacantha, Hochst. or nearly allied species.
farin gammo, Ipomœa argentaurata, Hall. f. (Convolvulaceæ); a trailing convolvulus with whitish flowers and silvery-hairy leaves. Syn. ka fi boka. (Etym. ganmo, gammo or ganwo = a head-pad).
farin sansami (Sok. and Kats.), Lonchocarpus laxiflorus, G. et P. (Leguminosæ); a tree with purple flowers. The leaves are capable of affording a dye like indigo. cf. talaki. Syn. shunin biri, and cf. halshen sa.
faru, Odina Barteri, Oliv. (and other spp. Anacardiaceæ); a large tree with pinnate leaves and small berries; the bark yields a resin. Syn. tuḍi (Zanfara), or farun biri (Sok.). In Sokoto faru or farun mutane = Odina sp. different from the above, with paler and smoother foliage.
farun makiyaya, a wild vine; vide under tsibiri kinkini.
fasa daga, the seeds of the tree kawo, q.v. Afzelia africana, Sm. (Leguminosæ), sold as a medicine or charm in fight, &c. (Etym. from its use as a charm in battle—daga—to put the enemy to flight, suggested by the explosive dehiscence of the pods scattering the seeds). Also called fasa maza.
fasa ḳabba, or fasa kumburi, Portulaca oleracea, L. and other spp. (Portulacaceæ). “Purslane.” A weed with succulent leaves, used as a local application to swellings. (Etym. “disperse swellings”). Syn. sarikin jibji, and harshen saniya or dabrin saniya; cf. gadon machiji and vide rigya kafi.
fasa ḳwari, Zanthoxylum senegalense, DC. (Rutaceæ); a thorny tree with pinnate leaves, found in ravines in the Benué district; the fragrant bark is sold as a medicine and spice.
faskara giwa, Ormocarpum bibracteatum, Baker (Leguminosæ); a shrub with tough flexible branches, small pinnate leaves and purple flowers. (Etym. from the tough texture of the wood which the elephant cannot break). In Zanfara this is sometimes called tsa q.v.
faskara toyi, Blepharis linearifolia, Pers. (Acanthaceæ); a prickly herb with blue flowers and spiny leaves used to trace ornamental lines on earthenware. Syn. gigi? dauḍar Maguzawa? (Etym. because it often remains unburnt when the grass is fired).
fatakka, Pergularia tomentosa, L. (Asclepiadeæ); a plant with orbicular hoary leaves and milky juice; used by tanners as a “bating” bath after unhairing and before tanning. Syn. kwotowa (Sok.).
fate fate, a medicine or love potion used by women, made from the leaves of shiwaka, &c. (Vernonia amygdalina), q.v. Also a food prepared from various plants, e.g. flowers of tsamiya, or leaves of rama, yaḍiya or zoḅarodo.
feḍḍa, screens made usually of the bulrush shalla, q.v.
fidda hakukuwa, Dyschoriste Perrottetii, O. Kunth. (Acanthaceæ); a water-side plant. (Etym. from the use of the seed to remove spicules of grass, &c. from the eye, the foreign particle adhering to the mucilaginous coat of the seed when placed in the eye).
fidda sartsi, or fidda saruta (Gobir), Euphorbia lateriflora, Sch. et Thon. A shrub with milky juice much used for hedges. (Etym. from its use as a poultice to extract a splinter).
fideli, Cassia Absus, L. (Leguminosæ). “Four-leaved Senna;” an undershrub with viscous foliage used medicinally.
filasko, Cassia obovata, Collad. (Leguminosæ). “Italian,” “Senegal” or “Tripoli Senna;” a low shrub with yellow flowers and flat sickle-shaped transversely ribbed pods; one of the varieties of commercial senna.
filfil, a spice; probably a var. of Capsicum (Arab. felfel).
fisawa or fiso? vide ḍan farkami.
fita, Clinogyne filipes, Benth. (= Donax filipes, Schaumann) (Scitamineæ); a water-plant with spear-head-shaped leaves commonly used to wrap up food.
fiyaka, vide jibda ḳassa and gaḍaukuka.
fuda or huda = young flower-buds of any tree; cf. tofo and labaye. hudar awaki, vide geḍar awaki.
fular tsofo, Polycarpæa linearifolia, DC. (Caryophylleæ); a herb with heads of white chaffy flowers. Syn. magudiya, q.v. cf. bakin suda.
fura, a grass, Pennisetum pedicellatum. Syn. ḳyasuwa, q.v.
fure = a flower; (when unqualified generally = flowers of the tobacco plant).
furen gadu (f. gyado), vide awarwaro.
furen yan sariki, Lonchocarpus sp.? a tree with panicles of blue or purple flowers; used as a charm by one who hopes to be king.
furfura ta gyatumi (or jatumi), Ærua tomentosa, Forst. (Amaranthaceæ); a hoary white erect plant; vide alhaji. (Etym. “hoary locks”). The name is loosely applied to some other plants of white habit.