flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
in the spurge family
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as '' Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, ...
. It is distributed across the Sahel of Africa, including in
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 o ...
,
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
In Nigeria, it is commonly called "cactus," although it is not a true
cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...
.
It is called ''yěp'' in the
Berom language
Berom or Birom (''Cèn Bèrom'') is the most widely spoken Plateau language in Nigeria. The language is locally numerically important and is consistently spoken by Berom of all ages in rural areas. However, the Berom are shifting to Hausa in ci ...
.
Uses
Fencing
''Euphorbia kamerunica'' is used as fencing in central Nigeria. The spines are dangerous to animals, and its toxic milky sap discourages large animals from getting in or out. ''
Jatropha curcas
''Jatropha curcas'' is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, that is native to the American tropics, most likely Mexico and Central America. It is originally native to the tropical areas of the Americas from Mexico t ...
Roger Blench
Roger Marsh Blench (born August 1, 1953) is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is based in Cambridge, England. He researches, publishes, and work ...
(2017) has also proposed ''
Commiphora africana
''Commiphora africana'', commonly called African myrrh, is a small deciduous tree belonging to the Burseraceae, a family akin to the Anacardiaceae, occurring widely over sub-Saharan Africa in Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Eswatini, Eri ...
'', ''
Erythrina abyssinica
''Erythrina abyssinica'' (lucky bean or flame tree) is a tree species of the genus '' Erythrina'' belonging to the plant family of the Fabaceae (or Leguminosae) described by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1825. This leguminous tree species is ...
'', ''
Gliricidia sepium
''Gliricidia sepium'', often simply referred to as its genus name '' Gliricidia'', is a medium size leguminous tree belonging to the family Fabaceae. Common names include quickstick, ''mata ratón''; ''cacao de nance'', ''cachanance''; ''balo'' ...
'', ''
Leucaena leucocephala
''Leucaena leucocephala'' is a small fast-growing mimosoid tree native to southern Mexico and northern Central America (Belize and Guatemala) and is now naturalized throughout the tropics including parts of Asia.
Common names include jumbay, ...
'', and ''
Caesalpinia bonduc
''Guilandina bonduc'', commonly known as grey nicker, nicker bean,
Poison arrows
The
Fali people
The Fali people (called the Bana in Nigeria)"Fali," ''The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary'' (1996) (James Stuart Olson, editor). Greenwood : p. 174-175. are any of several small ethnic groups of Africa. The Fali are concentrated ...
living near
Garoua
Garoua or Garua (Fula: Garwa 𞤺𞤢𞤪𞤱𞤢) is a port city and the capital of the North Region of Cameroon, lying on the Benue River. A thriving centre of the textiles and cotton industries, the city has approximately 1,285,000 inhabita ...
, northern Cameroon use the poisonous sap of ''Euphorbia kamerunica'' to make
poison arrow
"Poison Arrow" is a song by English new wave band ABC, released as the second single from their debut studio album, ''The Lexicon of Love'' (1982).
The single was released in the United Kingdom on 15 February 1982 on 7" and 12", with the sam ...
s.Raymond Castagnou, Roland Baudrimont et Jean Gauthier, « Recherches sur un poison de flèches utilisé par les Fali Tinguelin du Nord-Cameroun », ''Comptes-rendus de l'Académie des sciences'', Paris, vol. 260, 5 avril 1965, p. 4109-4111.
Musical instruments
It is called ''yěp'' in the
Berom language
Berom or Birom (''Cèn Bèrom'') is the most widely spoken Plateau language in Nigeria. The language is locally numerically important and is consistently spoken by Berom of all ages in rural areas. However, the Berom are shifting to Hausa in ci ...
. The
Berom people
The Berom (sometimes also spelt as Birom) is the largest autochthonous ethnic group in Plateau State, central Nigeria. Covering about four local government areas, which include Jos North, Jos South, Barkin Ladi (Gwol) and Riyom, Berom are als ...
Euphorbia balsamifera
''Euphorbia balsamifera'' (balsam spurge) is a flowering plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. It is distributed in the Canary Islands and the western Sahara. It is the vegetable symbol of the island of Lanzarote. '' Euphorbia adenensis'' ...