Images of villages in Mali (and a few in Burkina) in which Jamsay (Dogon family) is the primary language. Each file name contains important information about the photos, and are structured thus: LanguageFamily_Language_IdentificationNumber_GeographicCoordinate_Description_Date_InitialsOfThePhotographer
Moran, Steven & Forkel, Robert & Heath, Jeffrey (eds.) 2016. Dogon and Bangime Linguistics. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. http://dogonlanguages.org
The work on the Bangime language, spoken by the Bangande people, was carried out as part of a larger linguistic fieldwork project focused on Dogon languages. Bangime is confirmed as a language isolate with no demonstrable linguistic relatives—possibly the only such isolate in West Africa.
Jalkunan is an endangered language of the Mande family, spoken in the village cluster of Blédougou in southwestern Burkina Faso. The lexical work complements a published grammar with texts. See the readme for further information.
images of nonflowering plants. file names begin with fl (for "flora") plus "fern", "fungi", or "lichen". The lichen Pseudevernia is imported dry as a spice especially in Timbuktu.
images of plants in nature or specimens, family Amaranthaceae. The ex-Chenopodiaceae are listed as Amaranthaceae_Chenopodioideae. Our specimens of the cultivated amaranth (a sauce vegetable) are listed as Amaranthus_cf._dubius/hybridus.
images of plants in nature or specimens, family Anacardiaceae. Includes Anacardium (cashew) and Mangifera (mango). Genus Ozoroa was included in Heeria in the past.
images of plants in nature or specimens, family Annonaceae. Annona reticulata and A. squamosa are planted in courtyards for their fruits (sweetsop). Xylopia is an imported spice ("grains of Selim").
images of plants, in nature or specimens, of family Bixaceae. Cochlospermum tinctorium was photographed in an ethnomedicinal garden; it has not been observed in the wild in the zone covered.
images of flora from nature or of specimens, family Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae). Most of the native plants of this family are Saharan, if Cleomaceae is treated as a separate family as in this collection.
images of flora from nature or of specimens, family Burseraceae. Commiphora africana produces a gum (bdellium) known as albarkante in Mali and widely burned as incense.
images of flora from nature or of specimens, family Cleomaceae. This family was previously part of Capparaceae, and is now sometimes included in Brassicaceae.
images of flora from nature or of specimens, family Cucurbitaceae . There are some difficulties involving determinations of wild melons with protrusions (horns), Cucumis pustulatus/metuliferus/prophetarum. Cultivated spp. are Lagenaria (gourd, calabash), Citrullus lanatus (watermelon), and Cucurbita (squash/pumpkin).
images of flora from nature or of specimens, family Cyperaceae. Only a few of the many sedge spp. are of interest to people in central Mali: Cyperus articulatus (aromatic tubers), Cyperus esculentus (commercialized edible tubers, "pois sucrés"), Cyperus maculatus (rootstocks burned as incense), Cyperus rotundus (edible tubers, not very good and not commercialized).
images of plants, in nature or specimens, of family Euphorbiaceae. Euphorbia sudanica may include the very similar Euphorbia paganorum. Manihot is cultivated cassava. Euphorbia balsamifera is planted along roads. The two Jatropha's (of American origin) and Ricinus are planted in villages. See also Phyllanthaceae, which were moved out of Euphorbiaceae.
images of plants, in nature or specimens, of family Fabaceae (legumes), subfamily Caesalpinioideae, excluding mimosoids (e.g. acacias). The genus Cassia has been divided into Cassia (sensu stricto), Chamaecrista, and Senna.
images of plants, in nature or specimens, of family Fabaceae (legumes), subfamily Caesalpinioideae, mimosoid clade, former Acacia spp. (sensu lato). The acacias were split in 2011 into several genera: African acacias were assigned to Faidherbia, Senegalia, and Vachellia. Acacia (sensu stricto) was delimited to Australia (due to strong-arming from the Australian timber industry), even though the type species was Acacia (now Vachellia) nilotica. Acacia ehrenbergiana was renamed Vachellia flava, in other cases the species epithet did not change when the genus changed. Many botanists continue to use Acacia for the entire complex, others recognize Faidherbia but retain Acacia for Senegalia and Vachellia. By strict botanical rules, Acacia should be limited to "Vachellia".
images of plants, in nature or specimens, of family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, genera T to Z. Vigna unguiculata is cultivated cowpea (the local "beans"). Vigna subterranea (ex Vouandzeia) is cultivated groundnut (resembles peanut but harder).