Wandering through southwestern Nigeria: An inventory of Yoruba useful angiosperm plants

This paper is a compilation of all known uses of angiosperm plants by the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria. Information was gathered from the past experiences of authors and surveys of books, journal articles, dissertations (published and unpublished) and theses using online databases. The review presents 493 angiosperm species (65 monocots and 428 dicots) belonging to 99 families, of which Fabaceae contributed the highest number of useful plants (72 spp.), followed by Euphorbiaceae (31 spp.), Malvaceae (30 spp.), and Asteraceae (25 spp.). Generally, of the identified plants, 418 species are for medicinal purposes, 85 species are utilized as food and beverages, 65 species for other uses including games, food packaging, and arts and crafts while 22 species are used for magical purposes such as success charm, enhancing disappearance, protection from witches and escaping from the repercussion of an act. This study provides baseline ethnobotanical data for future quantitative analyses of useful plants in the region, as indigenous plant knowledge has not been properly explored and documented among the Yoruba people.

Automated summary

This paper compiles the known uses of angiosperm plants by the Yoruba people in southwestern Nigeria and provides baseline ethnobotanical data. The Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Malvaceae, and Asteraceae families are the most commonly used families. The identified plant species are mainly used for medicinal purposes, food and beverages, and other uses.