194 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



Momordica balsamina, the Loofah gourd, Luffa JEgyptiaca and L. acutan- 

 gula, Cucumis prophetarum, and one or more species of tuberous- 

 rooted Trochomeria. 



FicoiDE^ by common succulent weeds, e.g. Trianthema monogyna, 

 T. pentandra, and Giesekia pharnaceoides, and by species of Mollugo 

 in river-beds, etc. 



CoMPOSiTiE by some weeds of cosmopolitan distribution, e.g. 

 Ageratum conyzoides, Eclipta alba, etc., and by very numerous herbs 

 and sufifrutescent plants, amongst which the genus Vernonia is the most 

 abundantly represented, including one typical of the region, viz. 

 V. nigritiana, with several species of Aspillia, Coreopsis, etc., and the 

 chewstick shrub, Vernonia amygdalina. 



Melastomace^ by a few species of Dissoiis and Osbeckia. 



CAMPANULACE.3S by a common little blue-flowered weed, Cephalo- 

 stigma Perrottetii, and a water herb, Sphenoclea Zeylanica. 



Hydrophyllace^ by three or more species of Hydrolea, e.g. 

 H. Guineensis, etc. 



Lentibulace^ by ten or more species of Utricularia. 



Convolvulace^, a conspicuous order, well represented by numerous 

 species of Ipomcea, a few of Merrimia, and a few erect undershrubs 

 of the genus Astrochlcena, to which one may add the little blue- 

 flowered weed Evolvulus alsinoides, of wide distribution in the 

 world. 



SoLANACE^ by the " Thorn Apple," Datura Metel, by numerous 

 species of Solanum, some edible, e.g. the several cultivated varieties 

 of the native bitter tomato, Gauta, varieties of S. Melongena ; others 

 poisonous, e.g. Gautan kura, Solanum incanum, and others ; also by 

 two common weeds of the genus Physalis, and the popular herb simple, 

 Dandana, Schivenkia Americana. 



ScROPHULARACEvgs by Scoparia dulcis, of world-wide distribution, 

 and by several parasitic species of Striga, of which the most familiar 

 is the Makasar adwa, S. Senegalensis. Besides numerous humble 

 weeds of cosmopolitan genera, e.g. Moniera, Ilysanihes, etc., mostly 

 occurring in damp places, two or three species of Sopubia may be taken 

 as characteristic of the bush-lands. 



AcANTHACE^ by a variety of weeds, etc., of the genera Blepharis, 

 Monechma, Justocoa, etc., to which the following may be added as 

 characteristic of the Order in Hausaland : Nelsonia campestris, a 

 soft herb of slightly acid taste, Peristrophe bicalyculata, an occasional 

 fodder plant, and Dyschoriste Perrottetii, the mucilaginous seeds of 

 which are used to remove spicules from the eye. 



Pedaliace^ by the locally cultivated Ridi, Sesamum Indicum, and 

 other wild species of Sesamum, by the weed Ceratotheca sesamoides, 

 and by the half-shrubby Rogeria adenophylla. 



Labiate by several cultivated tubers, such as the Tumuku and 



