IITA Guidebook of Common Plants

 Common

plants of IITA Deni Bown

www.iita.org

IITA Ibadan, Nigeria Telephone: (234-2) 7517472 Fax: (234-2) 2412221 E-mail: iita@cgiar.org Web: www.iita.org; www.reforest-iita.org Outside Nigeria: IITA, Carolyn House 26 Dingwall Road, Croydon, CR9 3EE, UK Within Nigeria: PMB 5320, Oyo Road Ibadan, Oyo State All photos by Deni Bown

ISBN 000000000000000000 Correct citation: Bown, D. 2012. Common Plants of IITA. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Ibadan, Nigeria. 136 pp.

Printed in Nigeria by IITA

Forest trails Roads Current forest New forest Experimental fields Screen house Lake Buildings Golf course

Š International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), 2012

Common

plants of IITA Deni Bown

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IITA Guidebook of Common Plants This IITA Guidebook will help you to identify 100 of the most common wild plants in the lake and forest areas of the campus. For each plant there are photographs, a scientific name and its meaning, common names in English and Yoruba, a description of the plant, and notes on its ecology, history, and uses.

The aim of this booklet is to encourage appreciation and enjoyment of Nigerian wild plants, their habitats, life cycles, and traditional uses, and to promote awareness of some common species which have been introduced from other countries and now grow wild here.

Contents Page 1 5 6 Plant Guide

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Section Introduction Botanical terms Trees Shrubs Climbers Herbs (non-woody plants) Common name index

Color Code gray gray brown green yellow red

Symbol

Introduction History The campus covers 1000 ha and is the headquarters of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). When acquired for crop research in 1968, the area was secondary forest interspersed with villages, farmland, and bush. The occupants were re-housed in Sasa and much of the area was cleared for research, administrative, service, and residential purposes, leaving a core area of some 350 ha of forest to regenerate. In addition, there are various smaller wooded areas and an Arboretum which was established in 1979. There are also nine lakes, the largest of which is a reservoir 2.6 km long, formed in 1970 by constructing a dam on the Awba River. These wetland areas, together with forest, bush, farmland, and gardens provide a great diversity of habitats for plants and animals, especially for birds and butterflies (see other titles in same series).

Management The IITA Forest is managed by the Forest Project, funded by the Leventis Foundation, as a forest reserve for educational and research purposes. No hunting or trapping is allowed and collecting or disturbing of plants and animals is strictly forbidden.

Flora checklist The first records of plants at IITA were compiled by John B. Hall and David U. U. Okali in the late 1970s from 40 ha of secondary forest adjoining the weather station to the west of the IITA lake. Approximately 350 species were identified. A Checklist of IITA Flora was started by Deni Bown in 2010, since then over 130 species have been added. The Checklist is updated quarterly as new records are made. Copies can be obtained from D.Bown@cgiar.org or downloaded from the Forest Project website: www.reforest-iita.org.

Geology and Topography The area consists of rolling hills which reach c. 200 m in elevation, underlain by metamorphic rocks of the Pre-Cambrian Basement Complex. These rocks, which are conspicuous along parts of the Short Loop of the Forest Trail, are mainly banded gneiss with strata of quartz schists and quartzites.

Soils are largely ferric luvisols with varying proportions of clay and sand in the topsoil.

Climate and Vegetation Ibadan lies in the transition zone between equatorial rainforest to the south and savanna to the north. Forest in this area is dry semi-deciduous rainforest, with fast growing pioneer species, such as Ceiba pentandra, Newbouldia laevis, and Anthocleista vogelii, interspersed with slow growing emergents, including Milicia excelsa and Antiaris africana, together with abundant climbers and lianas, especially of the genera Combretum and Dioscorea, and an understorey of shrubs such as Chassalia kolly, Mallotus oppositifolius, and Sphenocentrum jollyanum. There is a pronounced dry season beginning in November and lasting until March. Annual average rainfall is 1301.6 mm with average monthly rainfall being lowest in January (1.6 mm) and highest in July (189.7 mm) and September (217.9 mm), based on IITA meteorological for the 20– year period 1980–2000.

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Acacia ataxacantha Leguminosae Benin rope acacia, ewon-agogo DESCRIPTION Sprawling shrub, 4–5 m high, with very prickly stems, forming dense thickets. Leaves: fern-like, alternate, bipinnate, to 15 cm long, with 6–15 pairs of pinnae and 15–35 pairs of linear leaflets per pinna. Flowers: cream-white, fluffy, borne in cylindrical spikes 4–8 cm long and up to 1 cm in diameter at the ends of branches and in leaf axils, mostly at the beginning of the rainy season. Fruits: smooth, flat, papery pods 5–12 cm long and 1–2 cm wide, pointed at both ends, containing 6–8 flattish, rounded, brown seeds 6–9 mm in diameter.

ECOLOGY In open rocky or sandy places in forest areas.

DISTRIBUTION Common and widespread in tropical Africa.

USES Stems contain very strong fiber, used to make ropes.

Flowers attract bees and other insects which in turn attract birds.

Bark and leaves have pain killing effects, used in mouthwash for toothache.

NOTES The dense thorny habit makes it popular for hedges to protect property and enclose livestock.

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Acacia ataxacantha

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Adenia lobata Passifloraceae yaga DESCRIPTION Large climber to 40 m long, with older stems woody and c. 2.5 cm in diameter. Leaves: ovate-cordate, often lobed, to 10 cm long, with two prominent glands where blade joins stalk. Flowers: yellow-green, bell-shaped, rather unpleasantly scented, 1–3 cm long. Fruits: globose to pearshaped, 3.5–7 cm long and 2.5–6 cm in diameter, fleshy but firm, yellow when ripe, rapidly blackening when damaged, containing many seeds.

ECOLOGY Found in forest, especially along trails and roadsides.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs widely in rainforest and secondary forest throughout tropical West Africa, into eastern Cameroon.

USES Traditionally used in arrow poisons and as fish poison.

Leaf decoction is taken to treat coughs and bronchitis.

NOTES Fallen fruits are often seen on forest trails. They are poisonous. Adenia cissampeloides is also common in the forest.

It has smaller, five-angular to rounded leaves, c. 7 cm wide, with a single basal gland, orange sap, pale green star-shaped flowers and smaller, pointed, ribbed fruits.

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Adenia lobata

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Aerangis biloba Orchidaceae angel orchid, ewon DESCRIPTION Epiphytic orchid with long aerial roots.

Leaves: few, arranged in a fan, leathery, glossy, dark green, up to 30 cm long, narrowing at the base and broadly rounded at the apex. Flowers: white, up to 4 cm across, with spurs and petal edges often tinged orange-pink, borne in two rows on pendent inflorescences up to 40 cm long during July and August.

Fruits: pale brown, spotted, cylindrical capsules, 6–9 cm long and 5–6 mm in diameter, containing countless seeds as fine as powder.

ECOLOGY Found hanging from trees in forest and gardens, often forming large colonies along the branches.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs widely in Nigeria and other parts of tropical West Africa, into Eastern Cameroon and Gabon.

USES Popular as an ornamental. However, all wild orchids are protected by CITES legislation and banned from international trade.

NOTES Flowers are fragrant at night and pollinated by moths.

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Aerangis biloba

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Ageratum conyzoides Asteraceae goatweed, imi-esu DESCRIPTION Aromatic annual up to 70 cm high. Leaves: opposite, ovate, soft-hairy, to 8 cm long and 5 cm wide, pointed, with serrated margins. Flowers: pale mauve-blue to bluishwhite florets in dense clusters, forming heads c. 7 mm wide which are borne in clusters. Fruits: black achenes surrounded by five white, pointed scales.

ECOLOGY Found in disturbed ground along roadsides and in farmland and gardens.

DISTRIBUTION Common throughout tropical Africa, often as a weed in cultivated areas.

USES Decoction of leaves is taken as a tonic. Macerated leaves may help to relieve pain and fever.

NOTES The strong billy goat smell inspires Yoruba incantations against witches and “bad medicine�. Similar in appearance but more slender and wiry, with smaller leaves and purple flowers is Vernonia cinerea (little weed, bojure).

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Ageratum conyzoides

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Albizia zygia Leguminosae ayinre-weere DESCRIPTION Deciduous, fast growing tree, 25–30 m high, with gray-brown, almost smooth bark, wide-spreading crooked branches and an open, flattish crown. Leaves: opposite, bipinnate, with 2–3 pairs on a stalk c. 20 cm long, each pinna c.

10 cm long, bearing 3–4 pairs of shiny leaflets, roughly shaped like a parallelogram, each pair progressively larger towards the apex. Flowers: white with red stamens, borne in clusters soon after the new leaves appear from February to April. Fruits: glossy flat brown pods, 5–10 cm long by 2–4 cm wide, wedge-shaped at the base and rounded at the apex, containing 9–12 seeds c. 1 cm across.

ECOLOGY Often seen in the forest, bush, and abandoned farmland as a pioneer species.

DISTRIBUTION Widespread in secondary forest throughout tropical West Africa to western Cameroon.

USES Hard, dark-brown timber is in demand for construction and household purposes, sometimes as a substitute for iroko (see p. 90). Young leaves are cooked in sauces and soups. Bark and roots have a wide range of medicinal applications but are toxic and purgative in excess.

NOTES Albizia adianthifolia, A. ferruginea, and A. glaberrima are also common in the forest. They have smaller leaves and are difficult to tell apart. Albizias are useful and ornamental but have brittle timber, making them prone to storm damage.

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Albizia zygia

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Alchornea cordifolia Euphorbiaceae Christmas bush, ewe-ifa DESCRIPTION Robust, lax shrub, 3–8 m high, often forming dense thickets. Leaves: alternate, ovate, 10–28 cm long, triangular at the apex, cordate at the base, with long stalks and shallowly toothed margins. Flowers: inconspicuous and greenish, borne in panicles in the leaf axils at the beginning of the dry season, with males on spikes to 35 cm long and females on short stalks.

Fruits: two- or three-chambered green capsules, c. 1 cm in diameter, on long stalks, turning reddish in December and splitting open to reveal glossy red seeds.

ECOLOGY Damp to wet ground in full sun.

DISTRIBUTION Locally common in swamps and along watercourses throughout tropical Africa.

USES An important medicinal plant with a wide range of uses.

Research shows that it has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. Extracts are also used in the paint industry.

Leaves and fruits yield black dye. It coppices well for firewood and increases soil fertility.

NOTES Alchornea laxiflora is a smaller shrub, common in the bush, with narrower leaves and inconspicuous blackish-brown fruits. It is used in antimalarial remedies and to treat infectious diseases.

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Alchornea cordifolia

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Allophyllus africanus Sapindaceae eekan-ehoro DESCRIPTION Shrubby small tree up to 10 m high. Leaves: alternate, with 3 elliptic to obovate, shallowly toothed leaflets 5–9 cm long, borne on a stalk 2.5–7.5 cm long. Flowers: very small and cream-white, sweetly scented, with conspicuous stamens, appearing in more or less upright spikes from May to August. Fruits: globose red berries, 6–8 mm in diameter, ripening from August to October.

ECOLOGY Well-drained places in the bush and along forest margins, often in association with colonies of ants or termites.

DISTRIBUTION Widespread throughout Africa and locally common but very variable with several forms.

USES Crushed leaves have a very pungent smell, relieving headaches, migraine, nosebleed, and exhaustion. Roots and leaves control diarrhea. Dried fruits are pounded with yam to treat tapeworm.

NOTES Flowers attract bees and other insects.

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Allophyllus africanus

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Alocasia macrorrhizos Araceae giant taro, elephant’s ear DESCRIPTION Massive evergreen herb reaching 2–3 m high, forming a short trunk up to 20 cm in diameter. Leaves: broadly sagittate, prominently veined, 1.5–2 m long and 1m wide, with wavy margins, held more or less upright on stout stalks 1.2–2 m long. Flowers: minute, borne on an upright, pokershaped cream spadix, backed by a hooded, waxy cream spathe c. 35 cm long. Inflorescences are produced in succession, but infrequently, from the leaf axils. Fruits: globose red berries, 1cm in diameter, clustered on the spadix.

ECOLOGY Moist rich soil.

DISTRIBUTION Originally from tropical Asia and Oceania but now naturalized throughout the tropics.

USES Stem and underground corms contain edible starch but need careful preparation to remove toxins.

NOTES Often cultivated as an ornamental for its architectural foliage.

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Alocasia macrorrhizos

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Anchomanes difformis Araceae forest anchomanes, langbodo DESCRIPTION Giant deciduous herb, to 3 m high, with a treelike appearance and underground rhizomes c. 80 cm long and 20 cm in diameter. Leaves: compound, highly divided and umbrella-like, reaching 1.5 m across, borne singly on a stout, spotted, prickly stalk. Foliage of young plants is less divided.

Flowers: pinkish, hooded spathe, enclosing a cream, upright spadix, produced on a prickly stalk with or before the new leaves.

Fruits: red berries, clustered on the spadix.

ECOLOGY Found in bush and forest, both under the canopy and in sunny positions.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs in tropical West African forests and western Cameroon.

USES Starchy rhizome is eaten as famine food after lengthy preparation to remove toxins. The plant is strongly purgative, diuretic, and irritant, giving it medicinal use in removing poisons from the body.

NOTES Closely related Amorphophallus species also occur in the forest but are less common. The leaves are similar in appearance but smaller and smooth, with or without spots.

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Anchomanes difformis

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Andropogon tectorum Poaceae giant bluestem, horse grass, eruwa dudu DESCRIPTION Robust perennial grass to c. 3 m high, with glaucous, purple-tinged cane-like stems which often produce prop roots from the lower nodes. Leaves: bluish and slightly glaucous, up to 1 m long and 7 cm wide, tapering at both ends, with sharp edges. Flowers and seeds are borne in large, spreading, many-branched panicles.

ECOLOGY Dominant in abandoned and fallow farmland, especially following cassava.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs widely in forest zones of West Africa.

USES Before flowering, the leaves are good fodder for livestock, especially horses. Stems are used for matting and thatching.

NOTES During the flowering period in the rainy season, bees visit the flowers to collect pollen.

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Andropogon tectorum

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Anthocleista vogelii Gentianaceae cabbage tree, apa-oro DESCRIPTION Evergreen tree 6–20 m tall with smooth pale gray-brown bark and relatively few, wide spreading branches bearing spiny twigs with clusters of leaves at the ends.

Leaves: obovate to oblanceolate, almost stalkless, winged at the base and rounded at the apex, reaching 1.75 m long and 45 cm wide in saplings but much smaller (nearer 15–45 cm long and 25 cm wide) in mature trees. Flowers: orange-brown to yellowish, not opening fully but clearly visible in upright clusters at ends of the shoots from October to February.

Fruits: persistent leathery green ovoid berries, c. 2.5 cm in diameter, containing numerous tiny dark brown seeds.

ECOLOGY A pioneer species in bush and gaps in forest, especially in wet places.

DISTRIBUTION Common and widespread in tropical Africa.

USES Root decoctions have strong purgative and diuretic effects and are also used to bathe or wash the skin in serious conditions such as leprosy and elephantiasis. Bark and seeds are used to lower fevers. Stem bark is a remedy for digestive ulcers.

NOTES Anthocleista djalonensis is slightly smaller all round with similar fruits but larger cream flowers which open fully. It occurs in drier places and is less common in IITA than A. vogelii.

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Anthocleista vogelii

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Asystasia gangetica Acanthaceae Ganges primrose, lobiri DESCRIPTION Upright to sprawling annual herb, c 30 cm high, with jointed, squarish stems. Leaves: opposite, ovate to triangular, c. 3–7 cm long. Flowers: white, tubular, 5-lobed, 1.5 cm long, with purple markings on the lower lobe, borne on a one-sided spike. Fruits: dehiscent green capsules c 2.5 cm long.

ECOLOGY Found in open areas beside forest roads and trails.

DISTRIBUTION Common and widespread throughout many parts of the tropics but as the name suggests, it may have originated in India.

USES Crushed leaves make water soapy for washing.

Medicinally used as an analgesic and decongestant, also as an emetic for snakebite.

NOTES This is a highly variable species. The form growing in IITA campus is shown in the photograph but the flowers may be larger or smaller and sometimes yellowish or purplish. There is a variegated form grown as an ornamental.

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Asystasia gangetica

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Bambusa vulgaris Poaceae giant bamboo, oparun DESCRIPTION Gigantic grass reaching 15 m tall, with hollow woody stems c. 10 cm in diameter, forming enormous clumps.

Leaves: pointed, oblanceolate, 10–25 cm long and 1–4 cm wide.

Flowers and Fruits: rarely seen as they are produced once only when the plant is at least 150 years old. After flowering and fruiting the parent plant dies.

ECOLOGY Occurs mainly along rivers and in damp hollows.

DISTRIBUTION Originally from Asia but introduced and naturalized in most parts of the tropics.

USES Young shoots up to 25 cm long are edible when cooked after the outer layers are removed. Stems are used for scaffolding in construction and to make very fine charcoal for use in dry cell batteries.

NOTES Giant bamboo is regarded as an invasive weed in rainforest. It dries out the soil and indigenous species of trees and shrubs cannot compete with it. The large papery leaf sheaths should not be touched as they are covered with irritant hairs.

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h.iasr.i Bambusa vulgaris

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Blighia sapida Sapindaceae akee, isin DESCRIPTION Fast growing evergreen tree, 20–25 m tall with a short gray trunk and large crown of dense glossy foliage. Leaves: compound with 4 to 5 pairs of obovate to elliptic leaflets, 5–15 cm long, which are rounded at apex and conspicuously pale and drooping when young. Flowers: inconspicuous, five-petalled, greenish, fragrant, c. 6mm across, borne in dangling racemes up to 15 cm long at the end of the rainy season and again during the late dry season. Fruits: roughly pear-shaped, leathery, orange-red, to 10 cm long, splitting into 4 segments, each containing a glossy black seed c. 2 cm long, encased in a wrinkled cream aril, to which it is attached by a ridge of pink tissue.

ECOLOGY Common on drier ground in the forest, often as a pioneer species in regrowth.

DISTRIBUTION In tropical America and the Caribbean.

USES Akee was taken to Jamaica by West African slaves and is now famed as an ingredient of the national dish, akee and dried codfish. Leaves, bark, and sap have medicinal uses. Seeds are used to make soap and ink for tattooing. Often planted as an ornamental and for shade. Flowers attract bees. Fruits attract birds and bats.

NOTES Though the arils are edible when ripe, the pink tissue is deadly poison, as are the unripe arils, containing hypoglycin, a toxic amino acid that causes potentially fatal hypoglycaemia (drop in blood sugar level) and depletion of liver glycogen.

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Blighia sapida

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Bombax buonopozense Bombacaceae red silk cotton tree, ponpola DESCRIPTION Deciduous tree to 40 m tall, with branches arranged in whorls and a pale, straight trunk, armed with large conical, black-tipped thorns. Leaves: alternate, long-stalked, digitate, with 5 to 8 bright green, oblanceolate, pointed leaflets to 20 cm long. Flowers: red, with 5 fleshy petals and numerous stamens, appearing in the dry season when the tree is leafless.

Fruits: cylindrical dark brown capsules, 10–18 cm long, pentagonal in cross-section, splitting open to release seeds embedded in silky white fibers.

ECOLOGY Found in the forest.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs widely in the lowland forest zone of West and Central Africa.

USES Silky fibers are used to fill cushions and mattresses. Stem bark is used to treat skin problems. Flowers are mucilaginous and used as a thickener in drinks, soups, and sauces. Young leaves and flower buds are cooked as vegetables. Thorns are carved to make chess sets, nativity figures, and scenes from local life.

NOTES Flowers attract birds and are good sites for bird watching. The Yoruba name ponpola means “big post”.

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Bombax buonopozense

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Bryophyllum pinnatum Crassulaceae resurrection plant, abamoda DESCRIPTION Erect succulent herb with stout fleshy stems, branching from the base. Leaves: opposite, fleshy, obovate, simple to more or less trifoliolate, c. 10 cm long, with purple stalks, often purple-flushed along the midrib and margins, which are neatly indented. Flowers: pale red-purple, with a bellshaped, four-lobed corolla and greenish-yellow, purple-flushed, inflated calyx.

ECOLOGY Dry rocky places in forest.

DISTRIBUTION Native to Madagascar, widely distributed in Nigeria and other parts of tropical Africa.

USES Leaves and sap are taken to treat coughs and applied to skin inflamed by allergic and fungal conditions, burns, and wounds.

NOTES When in contact with the ground, plantlets and roots are produced along the edges of the leaves. The plant features in a Yoruba incantation to acquire money.

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Bryophyllum pinnatum

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Caesalpinia bonduc Leguminosae bonduc, Molucca nut, nicker nut, ayo DESCRIPTION Robust, extremely prickly sprawling shrub with stems up to 15 m long. Leaves: bright yellow-green, bipinnate, reaching 80 cm long, with up to 7 pairs of elliptic leaflets c. 4.5 cm long which have persistent leafy stipules. Flowers: yellow with five narrow petals, produced in dense, bronze-colored spikes c.

10 cm long throughout the year. Fruits: prickly elliptic pods, 7 cm long and 4 cm wide, containing two very hard gray seeds c. 1.5 cm across.

ECOLOGY Found in open disturbed areas of forest and bush, often forming impenetrable barriers along roads and trails.

DISTRIBUTION Pantropical but may be locally scarce through over collection.

USES Extracts of the leaves, bark, and roots are taken to lower fever, relieve headache, and expel worms in children. Compounds in the seeds have proven antimalarial, antidiabetic, antibacterial, and antifungal effects, while extracts from the roots and foliage have antiviral and anticancer effects. The wood, known commercially as Pernambuco wood, contains pigments that produce shades of red, purple, and blue. The seeds are used as counters in games such as ayo, which gets its name from this plant, and are also popular as beads.

NOTES Seeds can survive over two years in water, often germinating on far-distant river banks and coasts.

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Caesalpinia bonduc

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Cardiospermum grandiflorum Sapindaceae balloon vine, heartseed, saworo DESCRIPTION Slender climber with hairy stems, gripping by means of tendrils arising from the flower stems.

Leaves: bipinnate, c. 10 cm long, with three trifoliolate, broadly lanceolate, toothed, leaflets. Flowers: creamy-white, scented, 8–10 mm long, produced in long-stalked clusters. Fruits: pale green, inflated, balloon-like, to 6.5 cm long and 3.5 cm wide, containing seeds 2–3 mm in diameter with a white aril.

ECOLOGY Common along roads and trails in forest and bush.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs throughout tropical Africa and also tropical America.

USES Leaves are eaten as a vegetable and infused to make cough medicine. Sap is used for eye problems. The attractive seeds are used as beads and pressed for their edible oil.

NOTES Similar but smaller and pantropical, C. halicababum lacks hairs on stems and occurs in drier areas.

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Cardiospermum grandiflorum

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Cleistopholis patens Annonaceae salt-and-oil tree, apako DESCRIPTION Medium-sized tree, with a straight trunk to 30 m tall, gray bark and aromatic red-brown sap. Leaves: elliptic to oblanceolate, very glossy, pointed, 10–25 cm long, arranged in two rows. Flowers: small, greenish-yellow, with six petals c .1 cm long, appearing from November to April. Fruits: knobbly, woody, club-shaped, borne on a thick stalk, c. 2.5 cm long, from April to October, usually containing two seeds.

ECOLOGY Common in wet sunny places in forest and bush.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs widely in West African forests, into Uganda and Zaire.

USES Wood is used to make floats and canoes as it is very light in weight. Bark is very strong and easily stripped for use as straps for baskets and mats for drying beans.

NOTES Fast growing, reaching 13 m from seed in 7 years. Seeds are distributed by the African civet. The Yoruba name apako means “kill cough” as the plant features in an incantation to cure coughs. The English name refers to the reddish sap which looks like palm oil and tastes salty.

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Cleistopholis patens

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Culcasia scandens Araceae agunmona DESCRIPTION Slender climber with wiry stems, clinging to tree trunks by adhesive roots. Leaves: slightly asymmetric, lanceolate, up to 15 cm long. Flowers: minute, clustered on a yellowish poker-like spadix, enclosed by a pale green spathe c 2.5 cm long.

Fruits: red berries, produced in clusters of c. 8.

ECOLOGY Grows in understorey of forest, forming large colonies and climbing up tree trunks where it can eventually lose connection with the ground and become an epiphyte.

DISTRIBUTION Widespread in West Africa and common in south Nigeria, extending into damp areas of savanna where there is forest near rivers.

USES All parts of the plant are irritant and poisonous but the leaves are sometimes used medicinally.

NOTES Flowers and fruits appear all year round but only occasionally and not in deep shade.

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Culcasia scandens

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Ceiba pentandra Bombacaceae silk cotton tree, kapok, araba DESCRIPTION Huge deciduous tree reaching 65 m tall with large triangular buttresses and straight pale gray trunk armed with conical thorns. Leaves: digitate with 8–10 leaflets to 18 cm long and 3–4 cm wide, finely toothed along the margins on young trees. Flowers: cream, with a milky odor, appearing from December to January in dangling clusters. Fruits: pendulous pod, light brown, 10–30 cm long, ripening in March and splitting into 5 valves to release seeds embedded in fluffy white fibers.

ECOLOGY A pioneer species, growing rapidly in disturbed habitats, thriving in both damp and dry ground.

DISTRIBUTION Probably originated in tropical America but now common throughout West Africa, especially in drier parts.

USES Wood is pale, soft, and lightweight. It can be cut and modeled easily and is very buoyant so useful for canoes. Seed fibers, known as kapok, are used to stuff lifebelts, mattresses, and pillows, and in acoustic insulation. Seeds are roasted and ground for adding to soup. Oil is pressed to make soap, paints, and lubricants. Most parts are used medicinally.

NOTES Ceiba pentandra is easily confused with Bombax buonopozense, differing in having cream-colored flowers, paler pods, fewer thorns on the trunk, and narrower leaflets that taper to a point more gradually.

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Ceiba pentandra

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Chassalia kolly Rubiaceae isepe agbe DESCRIPTION Slender, sparsely branched shrub with soft hollow twigs reaching 3 m high. Leaves: variable, narrowly elliptic, thin in texture, c. 20 cm long, with triangular stipules.

Flowers: small, greenish to pink, produced in clusters.

Fruits: spherical, purplish-black, borne on swollen pink stalks.

ECOLOGY Found in the understorey of the forest and along trails.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs widely in West African forests from Guinea as far east as western Cameroon.

USES There is a Yoruba incantation which invokes this plant to acquire money.

NOTES The Yoruba name means “firewood of the blue turaco� probably referring to the violet turaco, a large long-tailed blue bird that leaps and glides between trees.

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Chassalia kolly

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Chlorophytum macrophyllum Liliaceae greater ground lily DESCRIPTION Large tuberous lily-like plant. Leaves: narrow, lanceolate, tapering, to 60 cm long and 8 cm wide, produced in a more or less erect rosette. Flowers: small, white, and fragrant, with 6 petals, borne in a dense stout spike 40–60 cm long.

Fruits: green, long lasting, 7–10 mm wide, with 3 angular lobes which split open to release numerous shiny black kidneyshaped seeds.

ECOLOGY Found in forest near streams.

DISTRIBUTION Common in West Africa and occurring also in northeast, east, and central parts of Africa.

USES Sometimes grown in gardens as an ornamental.

NOTES Several other ground lilies occur in West African forests.

They are related to the spider plant, Chlorophytum comosum, a South African species with a variegated form which is often grown as a pot plant.

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Chlorophytum macrophyllum

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Chromolaena odorata syn. Eupatorium odoratum Asteraceae Enugu plantation weed, Akintola-ta-ku DESCRIPTION Shallow-rooted, sprawling, fast growing semiwoody shrub 3–5 m high with slender, tangled stems.

Leaves: aromatic, triangular-ovate, 3–10 cm long and 2–5 cm across, with coarsely toothed margins and pointed tips.

Flowers: pale lilac-blue to mauve-white, borne in terminal clusters of florets. Fruits: small seeds are attached to a fluffy parachute and wind dispersed.

ECOLOGY Grows in full sun along roadsides, trails, and in abandoned farmland.

DISTRIBUTION Originally from South America, it became a serious weed in Southeast Asia and India before spreading to West Africa in the 1940s, where it was first observed in a plantation at Enugu, Nigeria.

USES Extracts of foliage have well-researched, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and healing effects for treating wounds and burns.

Taken internally, they relieve pain and fever in malaria and other infections. Roots and flower heads contain compounds that damage the liver.

NOTES This invasive weed is toxic to livestock and suppresses the growth of maize. The Yoruba name refers to a politician— Akintola, who was unpopular but could not be removed.

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Chromolaena odorata

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Cnestis ferruginea Connaraceae oyan-aja DESCRIPTION Shrub with scrambling stems, reaching 2–5 m high, with fine dense hairs on most parts. Leaves: pinnate with 4–6 or more pairs of oblong-elliptic leaflets, 5–7 cm long and c. 2 cm wide, rounded at the base and pointed at the tip. Flowers: tiny, fragrant, and white, with five sepals and five petals, produced in spike-like clusters at the ends of shoots and in upper leaf axils.

Fruits: bright red, velvety, half-moon-shaped, splitting when ripe to extrude a shiny black seed attached by a pale yellow aril.

ECOLOGY Occurs in bush and secondary semi-deciduous forest.

DISTRIBUTION Widely distributed from Gambia to Uganda.

USES Fruits are rubbed on teeth and gums to clean them and ground up with local wine or gin as a remedy for snakebite. The bark contains a red dye.

NOTES The closely related Rourea coccinea is smaller all round, with tiny white flowers.

52

Cnestis ferruginea

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53

Cola gigantea var. glabrescens Sterculiaceae giant cola, ogogu DESCRIPTION Large fast growing tree up to 50 m high, with narrow buttresses and gray bark. Leaves: very large, reaching 45 by 45 cm, deeply cordate at the base and rounded, with two shallow lobes, prominent veins and long stalks. Flowers: five-petalled, small, cream inside and yellowish-red outside, becoming reddish as they age, produced in axillary clusters from October to January. Fruits: light brown, densely velvety, up to 15cm long, which split open from February to April, revealing a smooth pinkish-cream lining and c. 8 seeds with bright pink fleshy arils.

ECOLOGY Prefers damp areas in the forest.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs in most forest types from Côte d’Ivoire to southern Nigeria.

USES Powdered bark is applied as a dressing for sores, ulcers, and yaws or taken as a tonic tea. The large leaves are useful for wrapping foods.

NOTES There are two varieties of this tree. Var. glabrescens has smooth leaves and is the most common in lowland rainforest, while var. gigantea, which has hairy leaves and smooth fruits, occurs in Cameroon, Gabon, Uganda, and the Congo Basin.

54

Cola gigantea var. glabrescens

55

55

Cola millenii Sterculiaceae monkey cola, obi-edun DESCRIPTION Small deciduous tree or shrub, reaching c.12 m high, with a low crown and gray bark. Leaves: simple, mostly with 5 lobes, 30–40 cm long and 10 cm across, with stalks 5–32 cm long. Flowers: bell-shaped, red-brown outside and orange to yellowish inside, produced from November to January in the axils. Fruits: cluster of 6–11 orange-red, irregularly egg-shaped carpels, c 8.5 cm long and 3–5 cm wide, each containing 8–10 seeds, ripening June to August.

ECOLOGY Found in drier parts of the forest and bush.

DISTRIBUTION Common in transition forests of West Africa, from Côte d’Ivoire to southern Nigeria.

USES Though seeds are not valued for chewing, saplings are preferred as a rootstock for grafting the principal masticatory species, C. nitida and C. acuminata, which are often grown in plantations.

NOTES Dark-colored wood is traditionally used in Ibadan area for making guns.

56

Cola millenii

57

Combretum racemosum Combretaceae Christmas rose, false bougainvillea, ogan DESCRIPTION Climbing shrub or liane up to 15 m high, with spineless young growths and old stems with spines formed from the base of fallen side shoots. Leaves: pointed, ellipticovate, up to 10 cm long and 3 cm wide, more or less opposite and often in threes. Flowers: dense clusters produced in December and January, with conspicuous white bracts surrounding long, dark red stamens. Fruits: papery, winged, c. 2 cm in diameter.

ECOLOGY Common in deciduous forest and bush in open sunny places, especially at roadsides.

DISTRIBUTION Widespread in drier parts of Africa, from Senegal to Sudan, Kenya, and Angola.

USES Leaves used medicinally to treat internal parasites.

Flowers attract bees.

NOTES There are several other species of Combretum in the forest, including C. platypterum, with long red spikes high in the canopy and C. zenkeri, with white bracts and cream flowers from September to November.

58

Combretum racemosum

59

Crinum jagus Amaryllidaceae forest crinum, ogede-odo DESCRIPTION Large lily with a bulb weighing up to 2 kg.

Leaves: glossy, strap-like, pointed, 60–90 cm long and 11cm wide, erect to drooping, arranged in a rosette. Flowers: large, white, opening successively in a cluster at the top of a stem c. 60 cm high. Fruits: large globose berries.

ECOLOGY Occurs in wet places along lakes and streams in sun or shade.

DISTRIBUTION Native to swamp forest from Sierra Leone to southern Nigeria.

USES This poisonous plant is used with caution for cosmetic purposes in Igboland.

NOTES This is the only wild crinum lily that is common in IITA campus but several others are grown as ornamentals. These include two savanna species: C. ornatum with red-striped flowers and C. glaucum with large gray-green leaves.

60

Crinum jagus

61

Delonix regia LeguminosaeCaesalpinioideae flamboyant tree, royal poinciana, sekeseke DESCRIPTION Large fast growing deciduous tree c. 10 m high, usually with huge surface roots and a graceful, spreading habit.

Leaves: bipinnate, c. 30 cm long, with c. 1000 tiny bright green leaflets. Flowers: red c. 8 cm across, mainly in the dry season, with 4 frilly, spoon-shaped petals, a white, red-spotted upper petal, and prominent curved stamens. Fruits: flat, dark brown, woody pods up to 60 cm long and 5–6 cm wide, splitting down both sides to release large dark brown seeds.

ECOLOGY Prefers full sun, well-drained soil, low rainfall, and a pronounced dry season. In areas with high rainfall and moist soil flowering is poor; in shade it is patchy, occurring only on branches receiving sufficient light.

DISTRIBUTION Endemic to coastal limestone hills in Madagascar, where it is endangered in the wild.

USES Planted in the tropics as an ornamental, especially in coastal resorts where it tolerates high salt levels.

NOTES Planted on the west bank of the lake where seedlings have invaded the forest. Its invasive root system suppresses the growth of indigenous trees and prevents forest regeneration.

62

Delonix regia

63

Dioscorea preussii Dioscoreaceae water yam, esuru-igbo DESCRIPTION Vigorous climber to 30 m high, with deeply buried, divided or lobed tubers and stems twining left-handed, conspicuously clad in frilly, longitudinal purple-flushed wings.

Leaves: deeply cordate, broadly rounded, up to 30 cm long and 35 cm across, with elongated pointed tips and winged stalks.

Flowers: tiny, unisexual, with females borne in pendent racemes up to 40 cm long and males in shorter, often branched clusters in the leaf axils. Fruits: winged, oblong, 5–6 cm long by 3–4 cm in diameter, containing winged seeds.

ECOLOGY Found in the forest and along trails where the winged stems are conspicuous.

DISTRIBUTION Widespread in West Africa from Senegal to western Cameroon.

USES Tubers are eaten only in times of scarcity after soaking and washing repeatedly for up to 15 days to remove toxins.

NOTES As in all yams, the venation is distinctive, with deep-set main veins extending from the base of the leaf to the tip. Other yams in the forest include D. bulbifera with aerial tubers, D. dumetorum with trifoliolate leaves, D. hirtiflora with downy leaves, D. minutiflora with prickly stems and orbicular leaves, and D. praehensilis with glaucous fruits and purplish-black spiny stems bearing conspicuous spiny triangular bracts.

64

Dioscorea preussii

65

Elaeis guineensis Palmae-Arecaceae oil palm, ope DESCRIPTION Palm tree 15–20 m high with a straight unbranched dark gray trunk, scarred by leaf bases.

Leaves: pinnate, up to 5 m long, produced in a rounded crown of 40–50 leaves which are spiny at the base. Flowers: unisexual with male & female inflorescences borne separately in leaf axils; males strongly scented, in clustered spikes, females in large heads. Fruits: ovoid, pointed, shiny, c. 2 cm long and 1cm wide, produced in massive pendent clusters, c. 40 by 30 cm, commonly reddish-black but may be greenish or whitish depending on the carotene content.

ECOLOGY Found in lowland secondary forest, especially in damp to wet situations.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs throughout tropical Africa from Senegal to Angola.

USES The most important tree in West Africa as a source of edible oil, wine, and local “gin”. Palm hearts and emerging leaves are also used medicinally but removal of foliage damages the tree so only young surplus plants are suitable for this purpose.

Palm wine and “gin”are the basis for many traditional medicines.

Red palm oil is rich in vitamin A due to high carotene content.

Palm kernel oil is used worldwide in soaps, cosmetics, and culinary vegetable oils and fats. The sap contains vitamins B and C; it is tapped and fermented to make wine, which can be distilled to produce “gin”.

NOTES The oil palm is revered as the “staff of life” and plays a major role in ritual.

66

Elaeis guineensis

67

Entada rheedei syn. E. pursaetha Leguminosae: Mimosoideae sea bean, agba DESCRIPTION Liane climbing high into canopy.

Leaves: bipinnate with up to 4 pairs of leaflets reaching 9 cm long and 4 cm wide. Flowers: tiny, borne in a spike on a thick stalk in or above the leaf axil. Fruits: dark brown, woody, flat, up to 2 m long, divided into segments that separate on impact with ground when ripe, containing flat, dark brown, glossy, discshaped seeds about 5 cm in diameter which are water-resistant, often floating long distances before lodging and germinating.

ECOLOGY Found on tall trees in the forest.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs throughout tropical Africa, also in Asia and northern Australia.

USES Strong flexible stems are used to make ropes and fishnets.

Bark is rich in saponins, used as soap and shampoo for skin and scalp infections. Seeds are toxic but used medicinally to lower fever. Segments of pods make handy containers for tobacco and small items such as matches.

NOTES The sea bean is the longest fruit in Africa.

68

Entada rheedei

69

Ficus exasperata Moraceae sandpaper fig, erepin DESCRIPTION Deciduous tree c. 20 m tall with greenish to yellowish-gray bark and watery rather than milky sap.

Leaves: alternate, variable from ovate to obovate or elliptic and often deeply lobed on young plants, reaching 22 cm long and 12 cm wide, with stalks c. 1.5 cm long and a sandpaper-like texture.

Flowers: hidden within the embryo fruits, which are produced in the leaf axils. Fruits: globose, rough-skinned, reddish-yellow, 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter, ripening mainly from November to May. ECOLOGY Occurs in the forest, bush, and disturbed areas.

DISTRIBUTION Common throughout tropical Africa.

USES Leaves are used for buffing fine surfaces, such as ivory, calabashes, carvings, wooden handles of weapons, tools and utensils, and school blackboards. They are also pulped or decocted for external use in skin problems, oral and eye infections, and rheumatism. The sap, bark, and roots also have various medicinal uses. The fruits are edible.

NOTES The roughness of the leaves is due to large amounts of abrasive calcium silicate, making useful substitutes for fine grades of sandpaper. Another common fig is F. thonningii, a strangler that can often be seen taking over trees in the campus though it is also planted as a self–supporting shade tree. It has smooth leathery leaves and fibrous bark which can be made into cloth.

70

Ficus exasperata

71

Gambeya albida syn. Chrysophyllum albidum Sapotaceae star apple, agbalumo DESCRIPTION Evergreen tree, 25–40 m tall, with a fluted, pale gray-brown trunk, buttressed base, low crown, and golden-brown hairy buds and shoots. Leaves: oblanceolate, 15–30 cm long, with silvery undersides, an abruptly pointed tip and wedge-shaped base.

Flowers: tiny, yellowish, borne in clusters in the leaf axils mainly from April to June. Fruits: smooth, globose, c. 5.5 cm diameter, ripening golden-yellow with a red flush in January and February, exuding adhesive white latex when damaged and containing sweet, edible, orange flesh around 5 large seeds arranged in the shape of a star.

ECOLOGY Found in areas of forest with well-drained deep soil, especially where high in iron.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs throughout lowland rainforest in West Africa, extending into East Africa.

USES A valuable tree, sometimes planted in villages for its fruits and extensively collected from the wild and consumed locally or traded.

The adhesive sap is used as glue (“birdlime”) on branches to catch small birds and as a latex to heal cuts. Though soft and perishable, the wood is easily worked to make household items.

NOTES Fruits are not eaten with cassava, especially when fried as gari , as this can cause serious stomach upsets. There is also a taboo that star apples should be allowed to fall before collecting and should not be eaten before the rains begin. The seeds must be sown as soon possible after eating the fruit, or they become dormant.

72

Gambeya albida

73

Gliricidia sepium LeguminosaePapilionoideae mother of cocoa, agunmaniye DESCRIPTION Small, fast growing deciduous tree or shrub, 6–8 m high, with long, more or less vertical branches.

Leaves: pinnate, 15–30 cm long, with 6–9 pairs of pointed, elliptic leaflets, all similar in size and shape. Flowers: lilac and white, borne in racemes up to 15 cm long along the leafless branches during the dry season. Fruits: flattish light brown pods c. 10 cm long.

ECOLOGY Native to tropical America.

DISTRIBUTION Found throughout the tropics, having been introduced as a shade tree in plantations and for hedges and in a system of agriculture known as alley cropping.

USES As it can be propagated easily by large cuttings, it is planted to provide almost instant shelter, barriers, and boundaries. Flowers are a good source of nectar for bees.

Bark extracts lower cholesterol. Leaves and sap are used topically for skin parasites in both people and animals.

NOTES An invasive weed in open areas where forest has been destroyed. The Yoruba name agunmaniye means “growing without reason”, referring to the tree’s ability to thrive and regenerate in poor conditions and after hard pruning.

74

Gliricidia sepium

75

Heterotis rotundifolia syn. Dissotis rotundifolia Melastomataceae trailing glory flower, ajagunmorasin DESCRIPTION Variable evergreen perennial with rectangular, softly hairy stems which creep along the ground, rooting at nodes, or ramble upwards, supported by surrounding vegetation. Leaves: opposite, stalkless, ovate, 2–6 cm long and 1–2.5 cm wide, hairy on both surfaces and with 3 main, deep-set veins. Flowers: pink to magenta, c. 4 cm across, with 5 petals and yellow stamens.

ECOLOGY Common in damp, semi-shady places along forest trails and in bush.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs throughout the forest zone of tropical Africa.

USES Widely used as a medicinal plants for various problems, including fevers, bronchial infections, conjunctivitis, toothache, and rheumatism. The plant is acidic and astringent, making it also useful for cleaning brass.

NOTES There is a variegated form which is less vigorous and grown as an ornamental. The leaves are more attractive but it seldom flowers and the flowers are small and pale.

76

Heterotis rotundifolia

77

Hoslundia opposita Lamiaceae efirin-oso DESCRIPTION Upright to sprawling shrub 4–5 m high.

Leaves: ovate to elliptic, shallowly toothed, pointed, c. 3–10 cm long, borne in pairs or whorls of 3–4 on stalks which are square in cross-section and have a white bloom. Flowers: small, tubular, greenish-white with a three-lobed upper lip and pale green, five-toothed calyx, produced in an open, branched, terminal panicle, 5–10 cm long, mainly in the rainy season. Fruits: spherical ridged pale orange berries, 5–8 mm in diameter.

ECOLOGY Common along roadsides in forest areas, usually in moist deep soils, often on termite mounds.

DISTRIBUTION Locally common throughout tropical Africa.

USES Leaf pulp and sap are applied to skin diseases, inflammations and injuries, including fractures. Leaves are also combined with various other herbs and substances to protect against or cure snakebite. Though not strongly aromatic, the plant yields a vanilla-scented essential oil.

NOTES In Yorubaland it is held in esteem as a protection. against evil and witches.

78

Hoslundia opposita

79

Ipomoea aquatica Convolvulaceae swamp morning glory, water spinach, odunkun-odo DESCRIPTION Fast growing, creeping aquatic perennial, rooting at the nodes on land or floating in the water. Leaves: mostly elongated-triangular in shape, with a pointed apex and long stalk, borne alternately on a slender hollow stem. Flowers: mauve-pink, trumpet-shaped, 4–5 cm across, produced on stalks 5–15 cm long. Fruits: ovoid capsule c. 1 cm long, containing 4 brown, hairy seeds 7 mm long and 4 mm across.

ECOLOGY Occurs in full sun at the edge of the lake and other wet places.

DISTRIBUTION Common throughout West Africa and other parts of the tropics.

USES Young shoots are edible and a favorite vegetable in Southeast Asia but seldom eaten in Africa.

NOTES The Hausa name awarwaro or fùrén gàdú means “warthog’s flower” as warthogs like to eat the roots.

80

Ipomoea aquatica

81

Laportea aestuans syn. Fleurya aestuans Urticaceae tropical nettle, ojongbodu DESCRIPTION Fast growing upright annual with hollow hairy stems, up to 1.5 m tall but varying in size according to conditions. Leaves: alternate, ovate, sharply toothed, 10–15 cm long and 8–12 cm wide, with pointed tip and cordate base, covered with mildly stinging hairs, on a stalk 10–15 cm long.

Flowers: tiny, greenish-white, produced terminally in coneshaped clusters. Fruits: globose, 1mm in diameter.

ECOLOGY Occurs in bush and disturbed areas.

DISTRIBUTION A widespread weed throughout the tropics.

USES Leaves are eaten as a vegetable, especially as an ingredient of soups. In Yorubaland they are boiled as a cure for constipation. Juice is used to treat eye infections, boils, and wounds.

NOTES Another tropical nettle, Laportea ovalifolia, has more irritating hairs. It has creeping stems, spikes of cream flowers, and prefers damp places in the forest and near the lake.

82

Laportea aestuans

83

Leea guineensis Leeaceae popoja DESCRIPTION Shrub 50 cm–5 m tall with slender soft stems in shade, becoming more woody in sunny positions. Leaves: bipinnate, up to 18 cm long and 8 cm wide, with opposite, pointed leaflets which have indented margins and are glossy and bronze in color when young. Flowers: small, orange to red or yellow, with white stamens, produced in large flattish heads.

Fruits: green berries turning red then black when ripe, c. 1 cm in diameter.

ECOLOGY Occurs is damp shady places in understorey of forest, especially near water.

DISTRIBUTION Common in most parts of tropical Africa.

USES Used medicinally for various purposes, especially to relieve pain, lower fever, control bleeding, and encourage healing.

NOTES Grown as an ornamental pot plant or garden hedge in some areas. The family Leeaceae is closely related to Vitaceae, which includes grape vine.

84

Leea guineensis

85

Leucaena leucocephala Leguminosae: Mimosoideae horse tamarind, white popinac DESCRIPTION Evergreen small tree or shrub, up to 15 m high, with smooth, gray, lenticellate bark and straight, brittle, slender branches. Leaves: bipinnate with 4–8 pairs of pinnae, each with 10–20 pairs of narrow, oblong leaflets and a crater-like gland at the base of the first and last pairs of pinnae. Flowers: small white fluffy balls, up to 1.5 cm in diameter, appearing singly or in pairs in the leaf axils almost all year round. Fruits: smooth flat, light brown pods, 10–15 cm long and up to 2 cm wide, splitting open to release c. 15 hard, shiny, dark brown seeds but remaining on plant.

ECOLOGY Occurs in clearings and at the edges of forest and farm land.

DISTRIBUTION Introduced from Central America for agroforestry purposes and now established as an extremely invasive and persistent weed which prevents forest regeneration.

USES Seeds are used as beads for jewellery and ornamented weaving. Leaves are fed to livestock but cause hair loss in mammals with one stomach, such as horses, pigs, and rabbits.

NOTES Foliage is high in nitrogen, making excellent compost, mulch, and green manure.

86

Leucaena leucocephala

87

Luffa cylindrica Cucurbitaceae loofah, kankan ayaba DESCRIPTION Annual tendril climber with prostrate or ascending stems reaching c. 6 m long.

Leaves: are alternate with finely toothed, digitate lobes and stalks c. 10 cm long. Flowers: are bright yellow on long, axillary stalks, with males and females on the same plant, the latter bearing a long hairy ovary beneath the sepals.

Fruits: are cylindrical, c.15 cm long, resembling cucumbers, with smooth green skin containing numerous flat seeds embedded in fibrous flesh.

ECOLOGY Occurs in bush and along fence lines and roadsides.

DISTRIBUTION Probably native to Old World tropics but now pantropical.

USES Roots, fruits, and seeds have violent purgative effects though cultivated strains may be less toxic. Seeds are used medicinally to expel intestinal worms. They can be pressed to produce an edible, non-toxic oil. Leaves are applied as a plaster to control bleeding and heal abscesses.

NOTES Often cultivated for production of loofahs, for which purpose the fruits are left to decay, leaving a fibrous network which is washed and dried as a coarse vegetable sponge. Wild plants produce loofahs about 15 cm long; cultivated loofahs are larger, reaching c. 35 cm. The Yoruba name means “sponge for a princess�.

88

Luffa cylindrica

89

Milicia excelsa syn. Chlorophora excelsa Moraceae African teak, iroko DESCRIPTION Very large, emergent, dioecious tree, up to 50 m tall, briefly deciduous, with short buttresses, a straight, graybrown, scaly trunk, ascending branches and long surface roots, extending up to 100 m and conspicuous due to reddish color and prominent lenticels. Leaves: 10–20 cm long and 5–10 cm wide, broadly elliptic, rounded to asymmetric at the base and with a short point at the apex and a stalk 2.5–6 cm long. Juvenile leaves are longer, narrower, pale green, and velvety with finely toothed margins. Flowers: tiny, produced from December to March in catkins which in male trees dangle conspicuously up to 20 cm long and fall in large numbers after releasing pollen. Fruits: green, sausage-shaped, containing numerous tiny, pale seeds.

ECOLOGY Found in the forest and as isolated trees in farmland.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs widely in the forest zone of tropical Africa but is increasingly rare due to logging.

USES Iroko is to Africa what teak is to Asia, valued for high-quality carpentry where durability and appearance are major factors, e.g., in furniture, marine and vehicle woodwork, steps, staircases, vats, and mortars. Various parts have medicinal uses, including the latex which has analgesic, stimulant, antiseptic, and purgative effects. Crystalline “stone” sometimes occurs in trunks, perhaps as a result of damage. This lowers value of timber but is ground as a headache remedy.

NOTES Iroko is revered in many cultures. In Igboland it is sacred as the source of souls for the newborn.

90

Milicia excelsa

91

Mimosa pudica Leguminosae: Mimosoideae sensitive plant, patanmo DESCRIPTION Spreading mini-shrub 50–75 cm high with semi-prostrate, hairy, prickly brown stems. Leaves: bipinnate, produced singly or in pairs, with 3–5 pinnae and tiny hairy, linear leaflets which are sensitive to touch, causing the pinnae to fold up rapidly. Flowers: pink, in balls 10–15 mm in diameter, borne on stalks 2.5 cm long. Fruits: flat bristly pods up to 2 cm long, containing 1–3 round, smooth, light brown seeds c. 2 mm across.

ECOLOGY Occurs on roadsides and disturbed ground.

DISTRIBUTION Introduced from tropical America and now a common weed.

USES Leaf extract is taken as a remedy for diarrhea and applied to guinea worm sores. Roots, foliage, and seeds are toxic in excess. Plants are readily eaten by livestock but this causes hair loss in horses and is fatal to chicks.

NOTES Two other alien sensitive plants can be seen on roadsides: M. invisa which is similar in appearance to M. pudica but taller, with less sensitive leaves and terminal racemes of pink flowers; and Schrankia leptocarpa, which has sensitive leaves, tangled trailing stems with recurved prickles, smaller, paler flowers, and slender, ridged pods up to 13 cm long.

92

Mimosa pudica

93

Momordica foetida Cucurbitaceae igbole-aja DESCRIPTION Tuberous climber with slender stems, gripping by means of tendrils which are produced singly next to a leaf stalk. Leaves: cordate, up to 15 cm long and 12 cm wide, with elegantly curved basal lobes, pointed tip and regularly toothed margins. Flowers: white, not fully opening, with a dark basal blotch and blackish-green calyx. Fruits: pendent, pointed at both ends, vivid orange, 6–8 cm long, with soft spines, peeling back when ripe into three segments to reveal black seeds which are coated in slimy crimson pulp.

ECOLOGY Occurs along trails, roads, and open spaces in forest and bush.

DISTRIBUTION Common in tropical Africa.

USES Foliage has a foul smell. Leaves and sap are consumed after snakebite and crushed foliage is rubbed on affected parts.

The plant also has a reputation for helping to ease menstruation and childbirth, and to cause abortion.

NOTES Momordica cissoides has trifoliolate to palmate leaves but is otherwise similar but smaller, all-round, with yelloworange fruits only 4 cm long. Another conspicuous member of the cucumber family is Luffa cylindrica (see p. 88).

94

Momordica foetida

95

Mondia whitei Asclepiadaceae isigun DESCRIPTION Large tuberous climber with twining stems.

Leaves: opposite, orbicular, very smooth, thinly leathery, 15–17 cm long and 10–12 cm wide, with a cordate base and narrowly pointed tip, each with a conspicuous frilly, toothed stipule where the leafstalk joins the stem. Flowers: heavily scented, waxy, greenish-white to cream, with 5 narrow petals 1–1.2 cm long.

Fruits: narrow woody pods, c. 9 cm long and up to 2 cm wide, produced in pairs at right-angles to each other and splitting open to release seeds which are wind-dispersed by a tuft of silky white hairs.

ECOLOGY Found in drier, sunnier parts of the forest, especially along trails.

DISTRIBUTION Common throughout tropical Africa but locally endangered or extinct due to over-collection for medicinal use.

USES The vanilla-scented, yellow-fleshed tuber has a pleasant flavor and is used to make a tonic drink resembling ginger beer.

Its main uses however are as an aphrodisiac, purgative, diuretic, uterine stimulant, and cough remedy.

NOTES Some botanists regard this species as belonging to the Periplocaceae family.

96

Mondia whitei

97

Monodora tenuifolia Annonaceae African nutmeg, lakosin DESCRIPTION Small deciduous tree 15–17 m tall with a short trunk, spreading branches and a rounded crown.

Leaves: narrowly oblong, 7–20 cm long, with a very short stalk.

Flowers: pendent, appearing before or with the new leaves, triangular in outline with 3 yellow to white, red-blotched, frilly outer petals, 5–7.5 cm long and 3 narrow, waxy, white inner petals forming a claw over the small central boss of stigma and stamens. Fruits: globose, brownish-black, c. 7 cm in diameter, hanging beneath foliage and containing numerous seeds in sticky brown pulp.

ECOLOGY Occurs in areas of deep moist soil in the forest understorey.

DISTRIBUTION Widespread in West African secondary, evergreen, and semi-deciduous forests from Guinea to Cameroon, extending into Gabon and Zaïre.

USES Aromatic seeds are ground as a condiment. Fruits are a source of edible oil. Seeds are used as beads. Leaves added to bath to stop skin itching.

NOTES African nutmeg is a resilient tree, regenerating after fire and coppicing well for yam poles, walking sticks, and tool handles. It is also ornamental and a good choice for confined spaces as it has a compact habit.

98

Monodora tenuifolia

99

Mucuna pruriens LeguminosaePapilionoideae cowage (cow itch), velvet bean, yerepe DESCRIPTION Variable annual or short-lived perennial climber, twining up to 3 m high, with pubescent stems.

Leaves: trifoliolate, ovate, lop-sided, up to 20 cm long and 14 cm across, velvety underneath. Flowers: deep purple to almost black. Fruits: brown pods, up to 9 cm long, densely covered in extremely irritating hairs, containing small, mottled seeds.

ECOLOGY Occurs in forest margins, bush, grassland, and fields.

DISTRIBUTION Widespread in tropical Africa.

USES Sap is red, turning black on exposure to air; it is applied to wounds, sores, and burns, and as a fungicidal dressing for cut surfaces of vegetatively propagated yam tubers. Both sap and fruits yield a black pigment. Hairs from pods are used as a skin irritant in the treatment of leprosy and to expel intestinal parasites. Hairs and raw seeds should however be regarded as toxic.

NOTES Mucuna seeds are the source of L-dopa, used in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease. Mucuna pruriens var. utilis lacks irritant hairs and is grown to improve soil and as fodder.

100

Mucuna pruriens

101

Myrianthus arboreus Cecropiaceae soup tree, ibisere DESCRIPTION Small tree 15–20 m tall with short, often multistemmed trunk, pale greenish bark, stilt roots, and spreading branches. Leaves: very large, digitate, toothed, up to 70 cm across, with 7–9 oblanceolate leaflets and a stalk 20–45 cm long.

Flowers: appearing January to April, females green, in clusters, and males in yellow panicles resembling branched coral.

Fruits: ripening February to July, yellow, irregularly globose, 10–15 cm in diameter, composed of polygonal segments, each containing a single seed, c 1 cm long, enclosed in woody shell.

ECOLOGY Occurs in forest, preferring damp places, especially near streams.

DISTRIBUTION Widespread in secondary forest throughout West Africa from Guinea eastwards, extending into Sudan, Angola, and Tanzania.

USES Young leaves are a prized ingredient in soup in southeastern Nigeria. Fruit pulp is edible. Seeds are rich in oil, proteins, and amino acids such as cystine which may be lacking in the diet in parts of West Africa. Leaf extracts are used medicinally to control diarrhea and vomiting, and lower fever.

NOTES The large fruits are often seen on forest trails where they attract many kinds of butterflies.

102

Myrianthus arboreus

103

Newbouldia laevis Bignoniaceae boundary tree, akoko DESCRIPTION Fast growing tree 15–20 m tall with crooked trunk and gnarled upright branches, often smaller and shrubby in dry areas. Leaves: pinnate, c. 50 cm long, often in whorls of 3, with 3–6 pairs of oblanceolate leaflets, 10–20 by 5–10 cm, with long pointed tips and toothed margins. Flowers: tubular, mauve-pink, 5–6 cm long, with 5 lobes, purple dots and white throat, produced in erect terminal panicles from December to February and usually infested with ants. Fruits: pendent capsules, 30 cm long, splitting open in January and February to release flat, papery, winged seeds, 3–4 cm long and c. 1 cm across, which are densely packed like overlapping scales.

ECOLOGY Found in bush and forest.

DISTRIBUTION Commonly in semideciduous forests and dry secondary forests, especially in hilly areas throughout West Africa and into Central Africa.

USES Roots, bark, and leaves have numerous medicinal uses, especially to treat dysentery, fever, hemorrhage, and skin and eye infections.

NOTES Well known among Yoruba and Hausa people for its use in the coronation ceremony, when a leaf is placed on the head of a new chief. Sacred also in Igboland where it is planted around palaces. Grows rapidly from large cuttings, so often planted as a boundary around property and shrines.

104

Newbouldia laevis

105

Nymphaea lotus Nymphaeaceae Egyptian water lily, osibata DESCRIPTION An aquatic perennial growing from a large rhizome and roots in the mud. Leaves: orbicular, toothed, 25–30 cm across, floating on the water surface with a notch where joined by the stalk, which varies in length according to depth of water. Flowers: short-lived, opening in the morning, white, c. 20 cm in diameter with many pointed petals and yellow stamens.

Fruits: ovoid and green, developing underwater and containing many seeds.

ECOLOGY Found in still water at the edges of lakes and ponds.

DISTRIBUTION Widespread throughout tropical Africa.

USES Starchy rhizomes are eaten, mainly as a famine food, and made into soothing, sedative remedies for coughs, fever, dysentery, indigestion, and hemorrhoids.

NOTES Invasive in reservoirs where in time it leads to build-up of banks and reduction of surface area, hence the need to clear it from the banks of IITA Lake.

106

Nymphaea lotus

107

Oeceoclades maculata syn.

Eulophidium maculatum Orchidaceae variegated ground orchid DESCRIPTION Evergreen terrestrial orchid, forming clumps on the forest floor. Leaves: leathery, narrow, pointed, 10–20 cm long and 4–5 cm wide, patterned with light green hieroglyphiclike markings, borne singly on a conical pseudobulb 4 cm high and up to 1.5 cm thick. Flowers: white with a pink-marked lip, c.

1.5 cm long, numbering 6–15 on a slender stem up to 35 cm tall.

Fruits: ovoid, deeply grooved pods, 3–4 cm long, pointed at both ends, which when ripe split open to release thousands of seeds as fine as powder.

ECOLOGY Prefers dense shade beneath shrubs and trees in the understorey.

DISTRIBUTION A remarkably widespread species, found from Senegal to Sudan, and from East to Central Africa.

USES Sometimes grown as an ornamental in gardens and pots.

NOTES This is the commonest ground orchid in the forest and easily identified by its patterned leaves.

108

Oeceoclades maculata

109

Pararistolochia goldieana Aristolochiaceae ‘Pg plant’, egungun-oko DESCRIPTION Large deciduous climber, up to 7 m high, with soft twining stems growing from a tuberous rootstock.

Leaves: cordate, 12–15 cm across, with rounded basal lobes, a pointed apex and deep-set veins. Flowers: produced at or close to ground level, mainly March to June, trombone-shaped, foetid, dark red-purple with white stripes, 50–60 cm long, with a threelobed mouth, 30–40 cm wide. Fruits: dark olive green, ribbed, cucumber-like, 20–30 cm long, aromatic when ripe, containing numerous flat, heart-shaped, straw-colored seeds c. 1 cm long.

ECOLOGY Occurs in drier parts of bush and forest.

DISTRIBUTION Recorded from Sierra Leone to eastern Cameroon but now rare due to deforestation.

USES No uses for food or medicine are recorded.

NOTES The plant has many fanciful names, for example the Igbo name ekommili is from eko = bellows, and mmili = soft, fragile, as the flowers resemble traditional blacksmiths’ bellows in shape but are much more delicate. According to folklore, a small snake hides in the mouth, waiting for prey attracted by the bad smell, but more likely the odor appeals to carrion flies and dung beetles.

110

Pararistolochia goldieana

111

Periploca nigrescens Asclepiadaceae ogbo DESCRIPTION Large, evergreen liane, 7–8 m long, with corky stems. Leaves: opposite, leathery, elliptic, 7–9 cm long, with short, abruptly pointed tips, and quite long stalks. Flowers: purple-brown, glossy outside, velvety inside, 2 cm across, with 5 narrow petals. Fruits: semi-woody pods, 11–12 cm long, mostly in horizontal pairs, with sharply pointed tips, splitting open in December and January to release numerous small blackish seeds with tufts of long silky white hairs.

ECOLOGY Found in full sun at roadsides and in bush.

DISTRIBUTION Common throughout tropical West, Central, and southern Africa.

USES White latex is toxic but utilized medicinally, especially to treat skin conditions, wounds, swellings, and rheumatism. Root is used to treat snake-bite.

NOTES Parquetina nigrescens is very similar but flowers are pale green outside.

112

Periploca nigrescens

113

Petiveria alliacea Phytolaccaceae garlic weed, Congo root, Guinea-hen weed, awogba DESCRIPTION Erect perennial, often forming colonies, with slender stems 1–1.2 m tall. Leaves: alternate, elliptic to ovate, 5–15 cm long, and 2–5 cm wide, borne on stalks up to 1.5 cm long. Flowers: tiny, white, with 4 narrow petals, produced almost all year round in slender, sometimes branched racemes 10–30 cm long with drooping tips. Fruits: narrow oblong achene, 6–8 mm long with a 2-lobed apex bearing sharply pointed, recurved hooks which readily attach to clothing.

ECOLOGY Occurs in damp places in open, disturbed areas of forest, and beside trails.

DISTRIBUTION Native to tropical America and now naturalized in parts of Nigeria.

USES Whole plant has antibacterial, antifungal, antihistamine, and anti-inflammatory effects, also stimulating the immune system and slowing development of cancerous cells. Powdered herb is sold commercially in some tropical American countries as a cure-all known as anamu or mapurite.

NOTES A ritual plant in Yorubaland. Believed to keep snakes away.

114

Petiveria alliacea 115

Piper peltatum syn. Lepianthes peltata Piperaceae cow-foot leaf DESCRIPTION Woody-based, shrubby perennial c. 2 m tall with tough ribbed stems that root at the nodes when touching the ground. Leaves: almost circular with cordate bases, pointed tips and gray-green, gland-dotted undersides. Flowers: minute, white, produced in clusters of upright poker-like spikes.

Fruits: minute, globose.

ECOLOGY Occurs along trails in damp, shady, disturbed areas of forest.

DISTRIBUTION From the American tropics originally but now widely distributed in Africa.

USES Leaves, stems, and roots have medicinal uses, mainly to heal, soothe, and relieve pain. Leaf extracts have antimalarial effects and also treat urinary problems, venereal diseases, and intestinal parasites. Young leaves, stems, and inflorescences are eaten as a vegetable or flavoring. Leaves and basal part of stem are aromatic, with a peppery, celery-like flavor. They are baked and ground as a condiment.

NOTES The plant contains similar alkaloids to West African pepper (Piper guineense) and Asian pepper (P. nigrum), which give the peppery taste. Piper guineense is a climber found in the forest clinging to the trunks of trees.

116

Piper peltatum

117

Smilax anceps Smilacaceae West African sarsaparilla, ekana magbo DESCRIPTION Perennial climber with yam-like underground tuber up to 5 cm across, tough prickly stems and long, twining tendrils. Leaves: alternate, ovate to broadly elliptic, glossy, c. 12 cm long and 7 cm wide, with 3 conspicuous main veins curving up to an abruptly pointed tip. New leaves are bronze and spotted. Flowers: yellowish-white, produced on thin reddish stalks in a rounded axillary cluster. Fruits: yellowish-green, fleshy, globose berries, c. 1 cm in diameter.

ECOLOGY Found throughout forest, bush, and farmland.

DISTRIBUTION Widespread in forest zones of tropical Africa, especially in transition zone and savanna.

USES Leaves are used to treat coughs and heal wounds and inflammations. Tubers are edible as famine food and used as a remedy for skin problems and venereal diseases, especially syphilis.

NOTES Scratches from the thorns often turn septic, though reputedly a poultice of crushed leaves will heal them. In common with South American sarsaparillas, the plant has a sweetish taste which enhances drinks and medicines.

118

Smilax anceps

119

Sphenocentrum jollyanum Menispermaceae glue bush, akerejupon DESCRIPTION Dwarf, erect, slow growing, little-branched shrub to 1.4 m high. Leaves: variable, oblanceolate, pointed, very dark green, typically with some leaves deeply and asymmetrically lobed. Flowers: white, tiny, almost stalkless, appearing directly from stems and in leaf axils, mainly in January. Fruits: eggshaped, bright orange, 1.5–2 cm long, closely clustered on stem, with mango-like flavor, containing colorless slime surrounding a single seed.

ECOLOGY Fairly common in understorey of forest, flourishing in dense shade and tolerating dry conditions.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs from Côte d’Ivoire to southern Nigeria.

USES Bark and foliage have healing, hemostatic effects. Roots are used as chewsticks; they are acidic but make things taste sweet and have laxative and aphrodisiac effects. Fruits are cooked with lime and eaten as a cough remedy. Slime can be used as a lightduty adhesive, adhesive, for example, to glue paper.

NOTES Plants are often harvested by uprooting which severely reduces populations, leading to local extinction.

120

Sphenocentrum jollyanum

121

Spondias mombin Anacardiaceae hog plum, iyeye DESCRIPTION Fast growing, sparsely branched tree up to 20 m tall with slight buttresses and thick, gray, knobbly bark. Leaves: pinnate, 30–60 cm long, with 5–8 pairs of elongated, pointed, opposite leaflets, about 20 cm long and 5 cm wide, produced on stalks 1 cm long.

Flowers: tiny, greenish-white in large, much-branched panicles, appearing March and April and again in July and August. Fruits: produced in large quantities,ovoid, with thin yellow skin and pleasant tasting flesh, 3 cm long and 1.5–2 cm wide, containing a large stone which is difficult to separate from the flesh.

ECOLOGY Found in the forest and beside roads in the farm.

DISTRIBUTION Probably from tropical America and the Caribbean but now naturalised in secondary forest, farmland, and villages in many parts of the tropics.

USES Often planted as a living fence, and cut for staking yams and pepper vines. Bark is used to treat sores and fungal infections. Leaves have purgative effects and are used in remedies to prevent miscarriage, expel worms in children, and treat intestinal infections, tumours, and uterine cancer. Plum-like fruits are laxative and diuretic in excess.

Though not high in nutrients, they are good for making juice blends, jam, jelly, and alcoholic beverages. They are also fed to pigs, hence the name “hog plum”.

NOTES Fruits are relished by bats, enabling the tree to spread into bush and forest. Young trees are attacked by longhorn beetles which cause the death of upper shoots through ring-barking. Another shoot develops from below the abscission, giving a”stepped”appearance to the developing trunk.

122

Spondias mombin

123

Sterculia tragacantha Sterculiaceae African tragacanth, alawefon DESCRIPTION Deciduous tree 25–28 m high, often buttressed, with whorled, almost horizontal branches and gray-brown, fibrous bark, containing pinkish gum in the fissures.

Leaves: clustered, ovate-elliptic to obovate, 10–30 long, rounded to slightly cordate at the base, with abruptly pointed tips and star-shaped hairs on the undersides. Flowers: pinkish-red, produced in clusters from October to February, borne on velvety brown stalks. Fruits: 4–5 bright red, velvety, boat-shaped carpels, 5–7 cm long, turning brown and splitting open to expose c. 8 black seeds c. 1cm long.

ECOLOGY Occurs in open, often damp areas of forest.

DISTRIBUTION Widespread in tropical Africa, especially in drier forests, often colonising gaps.

USES Gum is used locally and in the pharmaceutical industry as a dental fixative and emulsifier in medicines, also as a remedy for constipation. It can be used as an adhesive for mending broken pots. Bark is ground as a poultice for inflammations and decocted to relieve bronchial congestion. Young leaves are edible and used medicinally when older to treat diarrhea, worms in children, and epilepsy. Excess causes red-colored vomit.

NOTES Gum arabic, from Acacia senegal, is sometimes adulterated with gum from S. tragacantha.

124

Sterculia tragacantha

125

Tithonia diversifolia Asteraceae Mexican sunflower, tree marigold, sepeleba DESCRIPTION Giant bushy perennial 2–3 m tall with stout, quadrangular, brittle stems. Leaves: simple, alternate, obovate in outline, 5–15 cm long and 3–6 cm across, with 3 to 5 lobes and winged stalks. Flowers: bright yellow daisies, 5–10 cm in diameter, borne on long leafy stalks, mainly in late rainy season and early dry season. Fruits: achenes about 6 mm long.

ECOLOGY Occurs in sunny places in bush, forest clearings, and roadsides.

DISTRIBUTION Probably introduced as an ornamental from Central America and now a widespread weed in West Africa.

USES The plant has proven anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimalarial, and insect repellent effects.

NOTES Can be confused by the native sunflower, Melanthera scandens, which in turn is easily confused with Aspilia africana, another yellow-flowered African sunflower also known as the hemorrhage plant. Both of these are well-known healing herbs and locally are often regarded as male and female of the same species.

126

Tithonia diversifolia

127

Treculia africana Moraceae African breadfruit, afon DESCRIPTION Large tree, 20–27 m tall, with pale bark and fluted base but no buttresses. Leaves: ovate to lanceolate, up to 15 cm long, lop-sided at the base, short-stalked and with a blunt to slightly pointed tip. Flowers: tiny, greenish, with males produced in clusters in the leaf axils and females on the trunk and main branches from October to February. Fruits: globose, yellow-green, with rough bristly peel, reaching 20–45 cm in diameter and 10 kg or more in weight, ripening mainly from February to March and containing c. 1500 seeds with a tough skin, embedded in spongy pulp.

ECOLOGY Occurs in damp places, often beside water, in the forest.

DISTRIBUTION Scattered throughout dry forests from Senegal to Sudan and into Central Africa and Mozambique.

USES Bark is ground for medicinal use, especially as a laxative, cough remedy, tonic or treatment for roundworms in children.

Seeds are ground as an ingredient in drinks, sauces, and soups and are also eaten raw, roasted, or fried.

NOTES Often planted in and around villages for collection of edible and medicinal parts, also because the tree retains moisture and is cool and shady during the dry season.

128

Treculia africana

129

Trichilia monadelpha Meliaceae rere DESCRIPTION Understorey tree up to 12 m high with a short unbuttressed trunk, dense crown, wide spreading branches and smooth, finely fissured bark which has a sweet scent when cut. Leaves: pinnate, c. 20 cm long and 6cm wide, mostly with 4–6 pairs of oblanceolate leaflets plus a terminal one, tapering abruptly to a short pointed tip. Flowers: yellowish-white, sweetly scented, in axillary panicles up to 10 cm long, from February to May and again in November. Fruits: ripening June to August, more or less globose, lobed capsules, mostly 3-valved, 1.5 to 2.5 cm in diameter, splitting open when ripe to expose black shiny seeds 1.5 to1.7 cm long with scarlet arils that dangle by a thread.

ECOLOGY Common along trails and at edge of forest, preferring moist places.

DISTRIBUTION Occurs in both evergreen and semi-deciduous forest, often on river banks, through most of West Africa to western Cameroon and Zaire.

USES Bark and wood used to heal wounds, sores, and skin, gastro-intestinal, and venereal infections. Leaves are considered a remedy for heart disease. Bark yields red-brown dye.

NOTES Flowers attract bees, butterflies, and many other insects.

Fruits are relished by birds of many kinds.

130

Trichilia monadelpha

131

Triplochiton scleroxylon Malvaceae/ Sterculiaceae African silk moth tree, African maple, arere DESCRIPTION Large deciduous tree 50–65 m high with buttresses reaching 8 m high and gray bark which is smooth and with lenticels in young trees, becoming rough and scaly with shallow fissures in older specimens. Leaves: palmate, with 5–7 pointed lobes, 10–20 cm long, borne on stalks up to 10 cm long. Flowers: tiny, white and hairy, flushed purplish-red at the base, with 30–45 stamens, produced in short panicles from December to February. Fruits: 1–5 dry, winged carpels c. 6 cm long, ripening February and March and varying considerably in quantity from year to year.

ECOLOGY Found in forest.

DISTRIBUTION Widespread in semideciduous forest from Guinea to western Cameroon and into the Congo, often dominating forest regeneration in clearings.

USES An important timber tree, having light, soft wood, known as satinwood, African whitewood or obeche, which is resistant to decay in wet conditions and also to attacks by borers.

NOTES Food plant of the African silk moth, Anaphe venata, whose large irregularly shaped cocoons were once the basis of village silk industries but are now a rarity due to deforestation.

132

Triplochiton scleroxylon

133

Glossary achene small dry fruit, not splitting when ripe, containing a single seed aril a fleshy or thread-like structure attached to the seed axil the upper angle between the leaf and the stem or the stem and the trunk axillary arising in the axil where a leaf joins the stem bipinnate describing a leaf divided into leaflets which are subdivided into smaller leaflets carpel female reproductive part of a flower cordate heart-shaped dehiscent splitting open when ripe digitate with leaflets arising from a single point, like fingers on a hand dioecious having male and female flowers on separate plants elliptic broadest at the middle elliptic oval with broadest part in the middle epiphyte/epiphytic plant growing on another plant and attached by its roots but not deriving nourishment, i.e., not a parasite inflorescence a floral cluster including flowers, stalks, and bracts lanceolate narrowly oval, tapering to a point at the apex lenticel corky eruption on bark that allows trunk or roots to “breathe� lenticellate with lenticels oblanceolate narrowly obovate, tapering to a point at the apex node point where the leaf is or was attached to the stem obovate egg-shaped with broadest part at the apex ovate egg-shaped with the broadest part at the base ovate egg-shaped (used for 2-dimensional parts such as leaves) ovoid egg-shaped (used for 3-dimensional parts such as fruits) panicle an inflorescence with lateral branches, each of which is branched pinnate (pinnae) leaflet (leaflets) pinnate bearing leaflets along the midrib raceme an unbranched inflorescence sagittate triangular, shaped like an arrowhead spadix unbranched fleshy inflorescence on which tiny flowers are closely attached or sunken spathe a modified bract that protects or encloses a spadix stipule an appendage at the base of the leaf stalk which may resemble a leaf or a spine, often in pairs syn. = synonym, indicating an earlier name for the species trifoliolate with three leaflets

Common Names Index abamoda Bryophyllum pinnatum 34 afon Treculia africana 128 agba Entada rheedei 68 agbalumo Gambeya albida 72 agunmaniye Gliricidia sepium 74 ajagunmorasin Heterotis rotundifolia 76 agunmona Culcasia scandens 42 akee Blighia sapida 30 akerejupon Sphenocentrum jolleyanum 120 Akintola-ta-ku Chromolaena odorata 50 akoko Newbouldia laevis 104 alawefon Sterculia tragacantha 124 angel orchid Aerangis biloba 8 apako Cleistopholis patens 40 apa-oro Anthocleista vogelii 24 araba Ceiba pentandra 44 arere Triplochiton scleroxylon 132 awogba Petiveria alliacea 114 ayinre-weere Albizia zygia 12 ayo Caesalpinia bonduc 36 balloon vine Cardiospermum grandiflorum 38 bamboo, giant Bambusa vulgaris 28 bean, sea Entada rheedei 68 bean, velvet Mucuna pruriens 100 Benin rope acacia Acacia ataxacantha 4 bluestem, giant Andropogon tectorum 22 bonduc Caesalpinia bonduc 36 bougainvillea, false Combretum racemosum 58 boundary tree Newbouldia laevis 104 breadfruit, African Treculia africana 128 buje Rothmannia longiflora 116 cabbage tree Anthocleista vogelii 24 Christmas bush Alchornea cordifolia 14 Christmas rose Combretum racemosum 58 cola, giant Cola gigantea 54 cola, monkey Cola millenii 56 Congo root Petiveria alliacea 114 cowage (cow itch) Mucuna pruriens 100 cow-foot leaf Piper peltatum 116

crinum, forest Crinum jagus 60 eekan-ehoro Allophyllus africanus 16 efirin-oso Hoslundia opposite 78 egungun-oko Pararistolochia goldieana 110 ekana magbo Smilax anceps 118 elephant’s ear Alocasia macrorrhizos 18 Enugu plantation weed Chromolaena odorata 50 erepin Ficus exasperata 70 eruwa dudu Andropogon tectorum 22 esuru-igbo Dioscorea preussii 64 ewe-ifa Alchornea cordifolia 14 ewon Aerangis biloba 8 ewon-agogo Acacia ataxacantha 4 fig, sandpaper Ficus exasperata 70 flamboyant tree Delonix regia 62 forest anchomanes Anchomanes difformis 20 Ganges primrose Asystasia gangetica 26 garlic weed Petiveria alliacea 114 glory flower, trailing Heterotis rotundifolia 76 glue bush Sphenocentrum jolleyanum 120 goatweed Ageratum conyzoides 10 ground lily, greater Chlorophytum macrophyllum 48 ground orchid, variegated Oeceoclades maculatum 108 Guinea-hen weed Petiveria alliacea 114 heartseed Cardiospermum grandiflorum 38 hog plum Spondias mombin 122 horse grass Andropogon tectorum 22 ibisere Myrianthus arboreus 102 igbole-aja Momordica foetida 94 imi-esu Ageratum conyzoides 10 iroko Milicia excelsa 90 isepe agba Chassalia kolly 46 isigun Mondia whitei 96 isin Blighia sapida 30 iyeye Spondias mombin 122 kankan ayaba Luffa cylindrica 88 kapok Ceiba pentandra 44 lakosin Monodora tenuifolia 98 langbodo Anchomanes difformis 20

lobiri Asystasia gangetica 26 loofah Luffa cylindrica 88 madre Gliricidia sepium 74 maple, African Triplochiton scleroxylon 132 marigold, tree Tithonia diversifolia 126 Molucca nut Caesalpinia bonduc 36 morning glory, swamp Ipomoea aquatica 80 mother of cocoa Gliricidia sepium 74 nettle, tropical Laportea aestuans 82 nicker nut Caesalpinia bonduc 36 nutmeg, African Monodora tenuifolia 98 obi-edun Cola millenii 56 odunkun-odo Ipomoea aquatica 80 ogan Combretum racemosum 58 ogbo Periploca nigrescens 112 ogede-odo Crinum jagus 60 ogogu Cola gigantea 54 oil palm Elaeis guineensis 66 ojongbodu Laportea aestuans 82 oparun Bambusa vulgaris 28 ope Elaeis guineensis 66 osibata Nymphaea lotus 106 oyan-aja Cnestis ferruginea 52 patanmo Mimosa pudica 92 ‘Pg plant’ Pararistolochia goldieana 110 ponpola Bombax buonopozense 32

popinac, white Leucaena leucocephala 86 popoja Leea guineensis 84 rere Trichilia monadelpha 130 resurrection plant Bryophyllum pinnatum 34 royal poinciana Delonix regia 62 salt-and-oil tree Cleistopholis patens 40 sarsaparilla, West African Smilax anceps 118 saworo Cardiospermum grandiflorum 38 sekeseke Delonix regia 62 sensitive plant Mimosa pudica 92 sepeleba Tithonia diversifolia 126 silk cotton tree Ceiba pentandra 44 silk cotton tree, red Bombax buonopozense 32 silk moth tree, African Triplochiton scleroxylon 132 soup tree Myrianthus arboreus 102 spinach, water Ipomoea aquatica 80 star apple Gambeya albida 72 sunflower, Mexican Tithonia diversifolia 126 tamarind, horse Leucaena leucocephala 86 taro, giant Alocasia macrorrhizos 18 teak, African Milicia excelsa 90 tragacanth, African Sterculia tragacantha 124 water lily, Egyptian Nymphaea lotus 106 yaga Adenia lobata 6 yam, water Dioscorea preussii 64 yerepe Mucuna pruriens 100

IITA Ibadan, Nigeria Telephone: (234-2) 7517472 Fax: (234-2) 2412221 E-mail: iita@cgiar.org Web: www.iita.org; www.reforest-iita.org Outside Nigeria: IITA, Carolyn House 26 Dingwall Road, Croydon, CR9 3EE, UK Within Nigeria: PMB 5320, Oyo Road Ibadan, Oyo State All photos by Deni Bown

ISBN 000000000000000000 Correct citation: Bown, D. 2012. Common Plants of IITA. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Ibadan, Nigeria. 136 pp.

Printed in Nigeria by IITA

Forest trails Roads Current forest New forest Experimental fields Screen house Lake Buildings Golf course

Š International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), 2012

 Common

plants of IITA Deni Bown

www.iita.org