The natural history of Africa encompasses some of the well known megafauna of that continent.
Pterocarpus is a pantropical genus of trees in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Pterocarpus clade within the Dalbergieae. Most species of Pterocarpus yield valuable timber traded as padauk, usually pronounced or ; other common names are mukwa or narra. The west African species may be traded as African rosewood. P. santalinus also yields the most precious red sandalwood in China known as Zitan. The wood from the narra tree and the Burmese padauk tree is marketed as amboyna when it has grown in the burl form. The scientific name is Latinized Ancient Greek and means "wing fruit", referring to the unusual shape of the seed pods in this genus.
The kola nut is the seed of certain species of plant of the genus Cola, placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae. These cola species are trees native to the tropical rainforests of Africa. Their caffeine-containing seeds are about 5 centimetres (2.0 in) across and are used as flavoring ingredients in various carbonated soft drinks, from which the name cola originates.
Oshun is an orisha, a spirit, a deity, or a goddess that reflects one of the manifestations of the Yorùbá Supreme Being in the Ifá oral tradition and Yoruba-based religions of West Africa. She is one of the most popular and venerated Orishas. Oshun is an important river deity among the Yorùbá people. She is the goddess of divinity, femininity, fertility, beauty, and love. She is connected to destiny and divination.
Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods. Sandalwood is often cited as one of the most expensive woods in the world. Both the wood and the oil produce a distinctive fragrance that has been highly valued for centuries. Consequently, some species of these slow-growing trees have suffered over-harvesting in the past.
The curry tree or Bergera koenigii, is a tropical and sub-tropical tree in the family Rutaceae, native to Asia. The plant is also sometimes called sweet neem, though M. koenigii is in a different family to neem, Azadirachta indica, which is in the related family Meliaceae.
Yorubaland is the homeland and cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa. It spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Togo and Benin, and covers a total land area of 142,114 km2 (54,871 sq mi). Of this land area, 106,016 km2 (74.6%) lies within Nigeria, 18.9% in Benin, and the remaining 6.5% is in Togo. Prior to European colonization, a portion of this area was known as Yoruba country. The geo-cultural space contains an estimated 55 million people, the majority of this population being ethnic Yoruba.
Shea butter is a fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree. It is ivory in color when raw and commonly dyed yellow with borututu root or palm oil. It is widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer, salve or lotion. It is edible and is used in food preparation in some African countries. It is occasionally mixed with other oils as a substitute for cocoa butter, although the taste is noticeably different.
Spondias mombin, also known as yellow mombin, hog plum, amra or cajazeira, is a species of tree and flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to the tropical Americas, including the West Indies. The tree was introduced by the Portuguese in South Asia in the beginning of the 17th century. It has been naturalized in parts of Africa, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, The Bahamas, Indonesia, and other Caribbean islands. It is rarely cultivated except in parts of the Brazilian Northeast.
African textiles are textiles from various locations across the African continent. Across Africa, there are many distinctive styles, techniques, dyeing methods, and decorative and functional purposes. These textiles hold cultural significance and also have significance as historical documents of African design.
Baphia is a small genus of legumes that bear simple leaves. Baphia is from the Greek word βάπτω, referring to a red dye that is extracted from the heartwood of tropical species. The genus is restricted to the African tropics. Baphia was traditionally assigned to the tribe Sophoreae; however, recent molecular phylogenetic analyses reassigned Baphia to the tribe Baphieae.
Osyris lanceolata, also known as African sandalwood, watta bush or Camwood, is used for its scented wood and to extract essential oil. The semi-parasitic plant is found from South Africa to Zimbabwe and east Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda; northwest Africa; the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula and Macaronesia. It grows in rocky areas or along the margins of dry forest, but is usually not abundant in any one place.
Sandalwood is the common name of many species of plants and their wood and oils.
Ejigbo is a prominent city in Yoruba Land and the headquarters of Ejigbo Local Government Area, one of the oldest local government areas of Osun State in Nigeria. Ejigbo is strategically placed in the middle of the region, as 35 kilometres (22 mi) north-east of Iwo, 30 km (19 mi) from Ogbomoso in the north and 24 km (15 mi) from Ede in the south-east. It is about 40 km (25 mi) north-west of Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, and about 95 km (59 mi) north-east of Ibadan. It is part of the Ede North/Ede South/Egbedore/Ejigbo federal constituency. The population is 138,357 according to the GeoNames geographical database. The average elevation is 426 metres (1,398 ft).
Mysore Sandalwood Oil is a trademarked perfume oil extracted from the Santalum album variety of sandalwood tree in the Mysore district of Karnataka, India. The tree species is said to be one of the best varieties in the world.
African black soap, or simply black soap, is a kind of soap originating in West Africa. It is made from the ash of locally harvested African plants and dried peels, which gives the soap its characteristic dark colour. Black soap has become a popular toiletry product in North America. In West Africa, black soap is often made by women using traditional recipes and is often exported through fair trade groups.
Dudu-Osun is an African black soap made from herbs found in the Savannah and tropical rainforest regions of West Africa. Although the black soap was once only known to people of Yoruba descent, Dudu-Osun, a Nigerian variant of the soap is among the few brands making for wider acceptance and recognition for this beauty product in the mainstream industry.
