West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 17 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo as well as Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The population of West Africa is estimated at about 381 million people as of 2018, and at 381,981,000 as of 2017, of which 189,672,000 are female and 192,309,000 male.
Vitellaria paradoxa, commonly known as shea tree, shi tree, or vitellaria, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus Vitellaria, and is indigenous to Africa.
The Tijāniyyah is a Sufi tariqa, originating in the Maghreb but now more widespread in West Africa, particularly in Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, Niger, Chad, Ghana, Northern and South-western Nigeria and some part of Sudan. The Tijāniyyah order is also present in the state of Kerala in India. Its adherents are called Tijānī. Tijānī place great importance on culture and education, and emphasize the individual adhesion of the disciple (murid). To become a member of the order, one must receive the Tijānī wird, or a sequence of holy phrases to be repeated twice daily, from a muqaddam, or representative of the order.
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. Shea butter is edible and is used in food preparation in some African countries. Occasionally, shea butter is mixed with other oils as a substitute for cocoa butter, although the taste is noticeably different.
Roselle is a species of Hibiscus native to Africa, most likely West Africa. It was in the 16th and early 17th century that it spread to the West Indies and Asia, respectively. It is used for the production of bast fibre and as an infusion, in which it may be known as carcade.
Cannabis tea is a cannabis-infused drink prepared by steeping various parts of the cannabis plant in hot or cold water. Cannabis tea is commonly recognized as an alternative form of preparation and consumption of the cannabis plant, more popularly known as marijuana, pot, or weed. This plant has long been recognized as an herbal medicine employed by health professionals worldwide to ease symptoms of disease, as well as a psychoactive drug used recreationally and in spiritual traditions. Though less commonly practiced than popular methods like smoking or consuming edibles, drinking cannabis tea can produce comparable physical and mental therapeutic effects. Such effects are largely attributed to the THC content of the tea, levels of which are drastically dependent on individual preparation techniques involving volume, amount of cannabis, and boiling time. Also in common with these administration forms of cannabis is the heating component performed before usage. Due to the rather uncommon nature of this particular practice of cannabis consumption in modern times, the research available on the composition of cannabis tea is limited and based broadly around what is known of cannabis as it exists botanically.
Afzelia africana, the African mahogany, afzelia, lenke, lengue, apa, or doussi, is a tree species in the family Fabaceae.
West African cuisine encompasses a diverse range of foods that are split between its 16 countries. In West Africa, many families grow and raise their own food, and within each there is a division of labor. Indigenous foods consist of a number of plant species and animals, and are important to those whose lifestyle depends on farming and hunting.
Khaya senegalensis is a species of tree in the Meliaceae family that is native to Africa. Common names include African mahogany, dry zone mahogany, Gambia mahogany, khaya wood, Senegal mahogany, cailcedrat, acajou, djalla, and bois rouge.
Burkea africana, the wild syringa, is a deciduous, medium-sized, spreading, flat-topped tree belonging to the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the family Fabaceae. The genus was named in honour of Joseph Burke, the botanist and collector.
Stylochaeton is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae that is endemic to Africa. Stylochaeton are rhizomatous with hastate leaves. Flowering in this genus is said to be quite uncommon. Stylochaeton is the sole genus in the tribe Stylochaetoneae.
Euphorbia balsamifera is a flowering plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. It is distributed from Arabian Peninsula to Sahara and Canary Islands. It is the vegetable symbol of the island of Lanzarote.
Orientin is a flavone, a chemical flavonoid-like compound. It is the 8-C glucoside of luteolin.
Saba senegalensis, known as weda in the Moore, French, and English languages, is a fruit producing plant of the Apocynaceae family, native to the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa. It has several common names in various West African Languages. The tree grows predominantly on riverbanks and in woodlands in The Gambia, Guiné-Bissau, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Somalia, Mali and Ivory Coast. It has been observed growing as vine up trees, as a small erect shrub, and oftentimes growing to the size of a large tree.
Combretum glutinosum is a shrub species of the genus Combretum, found in the Sahel belt in parts of Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, the Gambia, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, across to parts of Sudan. It is known as dooki in Pulaar, Kantakara in Hausa, rat in Wolof and jambakatan kè in Maninka. Its synonyms are Combretum cordofanum Engl. & Diels, C. passargei Engl. & Diels, C. leonense Engl. & Diels.
Senegalese tea culture is an important part of daily social life. The Senegalese tea-drinking custom is essentially similar to those of other countries in the West Africa region, such as Mali, Guinea, Gambia and Mauritania. In and around Senegal, tea is prepared and presented in an elaborate process, and known in the Wolof language as attaya, ataya or ataaya.
Terminalia macroptera is a species of flowering plant in the Combretaceae known by the Hausa common name kwandari. It is native to Africa, where it can be found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal, Sudan, Uganda, and Nigeria.
Maerua angolensis is a 10m tall, occasionally deciduous tree of the Capparaceae or caper family, often growing on termitaria and in thickets fringing seasonal watercourses, up to 1800m. Though never common, it is widespread in tropical Africa and arid regions, being absent from high-rainfall regions.
Gardenia erubescens is a shrub or small tree species with edible fruits that occurs in the Guinea and Sudan savannah vegetation of West and Central Africa. It is within the Rubiaceae family.
Lannea microcarpa is a dioecious plant within the Anacardiaceae family. It is also called African grapes and occurs in the Sudan and Guinea savanna of West Africa from Senegal to Cameroon. The plant is used to dye basilan fini, a traditional cloth in a red and brown colour.
