ago or agu (Gwari); a fish-poison, prepared usually from Tephrosia Vogelii (cf. [baina], vide under [majimfa]); sometimes from the pods of Cassia spp. (vide [gamma faḍa], &c.); cf. [aduwa].
agugu, a native drug; the rhizome of a fern used for tapeworm; probably = “Male Fern” (Nephrodium Filix-mas); not indigenous; brought chiefly from Adamawa.
agushi, the seeds of a var. of the Water Melon, Citrullus vulgaris (vide [guna]); chewed raw or used in soup.
aguwa vide [ḳaguwa].
akiye or akwiye, the seeds of [kiriya], q.v.
akwalu (Kano and East), Trochomeria sp. (Cucurbitaceæ); a wild twiner with a large tuberous root, edible when cooked. Syn. basko, or basgo (West Sokoto).
akwuya, a var. of [dawa], q.v.
alale, Blighia sapida, Koenig (Sapindaceæ). “Akee apple”; a tree found in the southern provinces, with red capsular fruit; the spongy white aril around the seeds is edible. (?Nupé ella = the name of the fruit). In Hausa generally called [Gwanja kusa], q.v.
alambo, Sesbania leptocarpa, DC. (Leguminosæ); a slender branched tree with yellow flowers and narrow jointed pods, common on river-banks. (Kanuri, paiya paiya). Other species are included, e.g. S. aculeata, Pers. S. ægyptiaca, Poir, &c.; cf. also [sasabani] and [zamarke].
alayafu, Amaranthus caudatus, L. (Amaranthaceæ). Native spinage; an excellent cultivated vegetable; a red variety resembles the ornamental plant “Love-lies-bleeding.” farin alayafu, Celosia argentea, L. (Amaranthaceæ); an erect weed of fields, 1 to 2 feet high, with pink and silvery flowering spike, not cultivated but used as a pot-herb.