Biodiversity: Flora of West Tropical Africa #1

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There is no doubt that the tropical environment holds quite a large number of the world's plant and animal biodiversity. We are talking about the area covering the tropic of Capricorn and tropic of Cancer 231/2 degree North and South of the equator respectively.Plant plays a whole lot of vital functions in human and animal lives ranging from food, shelter, drug production, ornamental and livestock use. A whole lot of plant species in West tropical Africa are still unknown to the world.

In this post and more to come, I will be taking my readers through some of the flora of West Africa, particularly, Nigeria.

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Scientific Name: Acalypha wilkesiana
English name:Copper leaf
Plant family: Euphorbiaceae
Growth habit: Shrub
Important Uses: Ornamental, antifungal and antibacterial use

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Scientific Name: Ixora coccinea
English name:Jungle geranium, flame of the woods, jungle flame
Plant family: Rubiaceae
Growth habit: Shrub
Important Uses: Ornamental, dietary supplement, medicinal use

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Scientific Name: Newbouldia laevis
English name: Chieftain tree
Plant family: Bignoniaceae
Growth habit: Tree
Important Uses: Social and medicinal use

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Scientific Name: Jaltropha caurcas
English name: Physic nut, Barbados nut, poison nut, bubble bush
Plant family: Euphorbiaceae
Growth habit: Shrub
Important Uses: Medicinal (Antifungal), Ornamental

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Scientific Name: Moringa oleifera
English name: Moringa
Plant family: Moringaceae
Growth habit: Medium sized tree
Important Uses: Wide range medicinal use, ornamental, food

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Scientific Name: Duranta repens
English name:Golden Dew-Drop, Lilac-flowered Golden Dewdrop, Pigeon Berry, Sky Flower, Brazilian Sky Flower, Kachang Puteh, Forget-Me-Not
Plant family: Verbanaceae
Growth habit: Shrub
Important Uses: Ornamental

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Scientific Name: Morinda lucida
English name: Morinda
Plant family: Rubiaceae
Growth habit: woody shrub
Important Uses: Medicinal (antiparasitic)

........to be continued