gauta, Solanum sp. Native bitter tomato; probably a var. of Solanum Melongena. ḍata or ḍwata (gautan ḍwachi) is a small very bitter variety, scarlet when ripe, and usually lobed; used in soup; kulufita, smaller than gauta; yalo, a large var. scarlet when ripe, often eaten raw = Solanum Melongena, var. inerme, Hiern. (N.B. The “Brinjal” or “Aubergine” or “Egg Plant” is S. Melongena, Linn.).
gautan bagirmi, vide [gorgo].
gautan kaji, Solanum nodiflorum, Jacq. (= S. nigrum, var. guineense, Linn.) “Black Nightshade;” an erect branching weed of waste places with white flowers and small black berries. cf. [gautan tsuntsu].
gautan kura, Solanum incanum, L. a prickly undershrub with hoary leaves, a yellow tomato-like fruit, and white or lilac-purple flowers; a deliriant poison. The name includes other poisonous species of Solanum in different districts. Sometimes called idon saniya = “ox-eye,” from the Ful. name giti nai.
gautan kwaḍo, Cardiospermum Halicacabum, L. (Sapindaceæ). “Balloon Vine,” “Winter Cherry,” or “Heart Pea;” a straggling plant of damp and waste places, with tendrils and graceful foliage, small white flowers and bladdery 3-angled capsule. Syn. garafunin fadama or garafunin kwata (kwata = water-side); vide also [godar zomo].
gautan tsuntsu, Solanum scalare, C. H. Wright; a plant of the native tomato tribe, with small red edible berries, cultivated near houses. (The name is often confused with [gautan kaji], q.v.).
gautan zomo, Mukia scabrella, Arn. (Cucurbitaceæ); a rough-leaved twining plant (like Bryony), with small red berries. Syn. [malami], q.v.
gawasa, Parinarium macrophyllum, Sabine (Rosaceæ). “Ginger-bread Plum;” a broad-leaved tree found in the northern provinces, bearing a dry plum-like fruit.
gawo, Acacia albida, Del. (Leguminosæ); a large acacia-tree very common in the north; bearing creamy-white flower-spikes and orange-yellow twisted pods; it is leafless during the rains and blooms from October onward; foliage a good camel food. A sort of pack-saddle called tasshi (East Hausa), is made from the bark.
gayan gayan, a sort of twining bean. (?Vigna membranacea, A. Rich.), vide [waken barewa].