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Strophanthus Hispidus
''Strophanthus hispidus'', the hispid strophanthus, (family: Apocynaceae) is a liana or shrub that can grow up to tall. Its flowers feature a yellow corolla and yellow corona lobes spotted with red, purple or brown. The seeds, like those of several other ''Strophanthus'' species, contain potent cardiac glycosides (notably strophanthin) absorbable through wounds - hence its use in African arrow poisons and later in modern medicine as a digitalis-like heart stimulant. ''Strophanthus hispidus'' is native from west tropical Africa east to Tanzania and south to Angola. It is naturalized in China. History of discovery The plant was observed for the first time in Senegambia by a certain monsieur Houdelot, then in Sierra Leone between 1771 and 1775 by Henry Smeathman, likewise in Nigeria (in use among the Nupe) by William Balfour Baikie, in Gabon by Marie-Théophile Griffon du Bellay and in West Tropical Africa by Gustav Mann Gustav Mann (1836–1916) was a German botanist who led exp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea to the south in the Atlantic Ocean. It covers an area of , and with a population of over 225 million, it is the most populous country in Africa, and the world's sixth-most populous country. Nigeria borders Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Nigeria is a federal republic comprising of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where the capital, Abuja, is located. The largest city in Nigeria is Lagos, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and the second-largest in Africa. Nigeria has been home to several indigenous pre-colonial states and kingdoms since the second millennium BC, with the Nok civilization in the 15th century BC, marking the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of Angola
The wildlife of Angola is composed of its flora and fauna. An atlas of the amphibians and reptiles of Angola was published in 2018, and reported 117 species of amphibians and 278 of reptiles. A major book on the biodiversity of Angola was published in 2019, and reported more than 2,000 species of organisms (plants, invertebrates and vertebrate animals), and 1,313 fossil species. Fauna Mammals Birds The avifauna of Angola includes a total of 983 species, of which 14 are endemic, 1 has been introduced by humans, and 4 are rare or accidental. 20 species are globally threatened. The western Angola Endemic Bird Area has 14 range-restricted species. Little is known about the conservation status of the region's birds due to the civil war that has raged in Angola for the last 27 years. The greatest diversity of restricted-range species is found in Cuanza Sul province, and given the uncertainty about their current status, many of these species are listed as Threatened. Gabela B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of Tanzania
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms ''gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. Etymology The word "flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. The technical term "flora" is then derived from a metonymy of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning of a work cataloguing such vegetation. Moreover, "Flora" was used to refer to the flowers of an artificial garden in the seventeenth century. The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) was first made by Jules Thurmann (1849). Prior to this, the two terms were used indiscriminately.Thurmann, J. (1849). ''Essai de Phy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of West-Central Tropical Africa
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms ''gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. Etymology The word "flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. The technical term "flora" is then derived from a metonymy of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning of a work cataloguing such vegetation. Moreover, "Flora" was used to refer to the flowers of an artificial garden in the seventeenth century. The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) was first made by Jules Thurmann (1849). Prior to this, the two terms were used indiscriminately.Thurmann, J. (1849). ''Essai de Phy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of West Tropical Africa
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. Etymology The word "flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. The technical term "flora" is then derived from a metonymy of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning of a work cataloguing such vegetation. Moreover, "Flora" was used to refer to the flowers of an artificial garden in the seventeenth century. The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) was first made by Jules Thurmann (1849). Prior to this, the two terms were used indiscriminately.Thurmann, J. (1849). ''Essai de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strophanthus
''Strophanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1802. It is native primarily to tropical Africa, extending to South Africa, with a few species in Asia from southern India to New Guinea and southern China. The genus name is a compound of the Greek words στροφος (''strophos'') "twisted" and ανθοσ (''anthos'') "flower", in reference to the corolla lobes which, in some species - notably ''S. petersianus'' (see below) - resemble long twisted ribbons or threads and can reach a length of 30–35 cm. This trait, in addition to colouring involving combinations of bright pinks, purples and oranges, combine to make the flowers among the most ornamental in the plant kingdom. The genus includes vines, shrubs, and small trees. The leaves are opposite or whorled, simple broad lanceolate, 2–20 cm long, with an entire margin. Several African tribes used ''Strophanthus'' as the principal ingredient in arrow poison. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gustav Mann
Gustav Mann (1836–1916) was a German botanist who led expeditions in West Africa and was also a gardener at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Born in Hanover in 1836, he was chosen by William Jackson Hooker, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to take part in William Balfour Baikie's expedition to West Africa. While there, he sent numerous specimens back to Kew. He married Mary Anne Stovell in 1863. Mann's exploration of the Cameroon mountains is described by Sir Richard Burton in ''Abeokuta and the Camaroon Mountains'' vol. 2 Mann later collected specimens in Darjeeling, India, before retiring to Munich, Germany, in 1891. He died in 1916. Some 349 species of plants, the genera ''Manniella'' Hook.f. and ''Manniophyton'' Muell. Arg.; and Mann's Spring on the Cameroon Mountain Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in the South West region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie-Théophile Griffon Du Bellay
Marie-Théophile Griffon du Bellay (14 August 1829 – 10 November 1908) was a French physician, naval surgeon, explorer and ethnobotanist. Life Marie-Théophile was born at Rochefort, the middle child of the three sons of Joseph Jean Baptiste Alexandre Griffon du Bellay and Marie Elisabeth Claire de Nesmond. His father was one of the last remaining survivors of the infamous '' wreck of the Medusa'' (upon which he had served as secretary to the then governor of Senegal Colonel Julien-Désiré Schmaltz) and became a commissioner in the French Navy. Qualifying as a naval surgeon at the age of 20 in 1849, Marie-Théophile served on several French naval vessels between 1850 and 1861, his periods of service interspersed with time ashore in the port town of Rochefort. On the eighth of March 1856, he qualified as Doctor of Medicine, his doctoral thesis at the University of Montpellier being entitled ''Essai sur le Tétanos'' ("Essay upon Tetanus"). Surgeon first class of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of nearly and its population is estimated at million people. There are coastal plains, mountains (the Cristal Mountains and the Chaillu Massif in the centre), and a savanna in the east. Since its independence from France in 1960, the sovereign state of Gabon has had three presidents. In the 1990s, it introduced a multi-party system and a democratic constitution that aimed for a more transparent electoral process and reformed some governmental institutions. With petroleum and foreign private investment, it has the fourth highest HDI in the region (after Mauritius, Seychelles and South Africa) and the fifth highest GDP per capita (PPP) i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Balfour Baikie
William Balfour Baikie (27 August 182512 December 1864) was a Scottish explorer, naturalist and philologist. Biography Baikie was born at Kirkwall, Orkney, eldest son of Captain John Baikie, R.N. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, and, on obtaining his M.D. degree, joined the Royal Navy in 1848. He early attracted the notice of Sir Roderick Murchison, through whom he was appointed surgeon and naturalist to the Niger expedition sent out in 1854 by Macgregor Laird with government support. The death of the senior officer ( Consul Beecroft) occurring at Fernando Po, Baikie succeeded to the command. Ascending the Benue about 250 miles beyond the point reached by former explorers, the little steamer ''Pleiad'' returned and reached the mouth of the Niger, after a voyage of 118 days, without the loss of a single man. The expedition had been instructed to endeavour to afford assistance to Heinrich Barth, who had in 1851 crossed the Benue in its upper course, but Baikie was unable to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nupe People
The Nupe (traditionally called the ''Nupawa'' by the Hausas and ''Tapa'' by the neighbouring Yoruba) are an ethnic group native to the Middle Belt of Nigeria. They are the dominant ethnic group in Niger State and a minority in Kwara State. The Nupe are also present in Kogi State and The Federal Capital Territory. History The Nupe trace their origin to Tsoede who fled the court of Idah and established a loose confederation of towns along the Niger in the 15th century. The proximity of Nupe to the Yoruba Igbomina people in the south and to the Yoruba Oyo people in the southwest led to cross-fertilization of cultural influences through trade and conflicts over the centuries. Population and demography There are probably about 3.5 million Nupes, principally in Niger State. The Nupe language is also spoken in Kwara, Kogi and Federal Capital Territory. They are primarily Muslims, with some Christians and followers of African Traditional Religion. The nupe people have several ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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