Global Regional Plant Guides

Guinea-Sudan Savanna & Woodland Plant Survival Guide

A comprehensive survival plant guide for Guinea-Sudan Savanna & Woodland, covering useful woody materials, land foods, aquatic foods, traditional-use plants and poisonous look-alikes.

All plant guides

Cover of Guinea-Sudan Savanna & Woodland Plant Survival Guide

Continent: Africa
USDA-equivalent zones: 10-13
Köppen climate: Aw
Profiles: 20
Regional biome: Tall-grass savanna, parkland, gallery forest and seasonal wetland

Download PDF (17 pages)

Print-ready · US Letter · clickable sources

Useful plants · 5 Land edibles · 5 Aquatic edibles · 3 Traditional-use · 3 Poisonous look-alikes · 4

Useful plants

Wood, fibre, shelter and craft

African baobab

Adansonia digitata

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for African baobab

Identify: Massive bottle-shaped trunk; palmate leaves; large hanging velvety fruits with dry powdery pulp.
Habitat: African savanna, dry woodland and village parkland.
Season: Fruit dry season; leaves wet season; fiber year-round.
Field use: Fruit pulp and young leaves are documented food; bark fiber has cordage use; hollow or fallen wood can support containers and tinder.
Caution: Do not strip living bark without local authority. Seeds and leaves require normal food preparation.
Look-alikes: Other baobab species occur in Madagascar and Australia.

food fruitfood greencordagecontainer

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Arid acacias

Vachellia / Senegalia spp.

Useful plants

Identify: Feathery compound leaves; paired or hooked thorns; yellow or white puffball flowers; pods.
Habitat: African, Arabian and Australian savannas, dry rivers and deserts.
Season: Wood year-round; gum and pods seasonal.
Field use: Dense wood for bows, handles, stakes and hot coals; gums of selected species have documented food or adhesive use.
Caution: Species vary in cyanogenic chemistry and pod edibility. Thorns cause deep punctures.
Look-alikes: Prosopis/mesquite and other mimosoid legumes require pod and thorn comparison.

bow woodhandlesfueladhesive

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Wild raisins / Grewia

Grewia spp.

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for Wild raisins / Grewia

Identify: Rough toothed leaves; small star-like flowers; lobed orange, red or brown drupes.
Habitat: African savanna, dry woodland and scrub.
Season: Fruit seasonal; stems year-round.
Field use: Ripe fruits of selected species are documented food; straight stems provide arrow shafts, bows, cordage bark and tool handles.
Caution: Species vary. Confirm fruit and leaf traits; thorny thickets can conceal snakes.
Look-alikes: Ziziphus has paired thorns and three-veined leaves.

food fruitarrow shaftbow woodcordage

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

African highland bamboo

Oldeania alpina / Oxytenanthera spp.

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for African highland bamboo

Identify: Tall segmented culms in dense stands; narrow grass leaves; branching at nodes.
Habitat: African highlands or dry tropical woodland depending species.
Season: Culms year-round; shoots seasonal.
Field use: Shelter, containers, arrow shafts, bows, traps, friction-fire sets and cooked shoots of known species.
Caution: Shoots may contain cyanogenic compounds and require boiling; stands hide wildlife and unstable slopes.
Look-alikes: Reeds are thinner and wetland-rooted.

constructionarrow shaftbow drillcontainerfood shoot

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Jujubes

Ziziphus spp.

Useful plants

Identify: Zigzag twigs with paired straight and hooked thorns; three-veined leaves; small drupes.
Habitat: Dry Africa, Asia and Mediterranean-type scrub.
Season: Fruit summer-fall; wood year-round.
Field use: Ripe fruits of confirmed species are documented food; hard wood makes tool handles, pegs and small bows.
Caution: Unripe fruit can be astringent; thorn injuries are common. Species vary.
Look-alikes: Christ’s-thorn and buffalo-thorn relatives require local confirmation.

food fruitbow woodhandlespegs

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Land edibles

Terrestrial food species

Marula

Sclerocarya birrea

Land-based edible plants

Identify: Compound leaves clustered near twig tips; gray mottled bark; plum-sized yellow fruit with hard stone.
Habitat: African savanna and dry woodland.
Season: Fruit wet-season to late summer depending region.
Field use: Ripe fruit and seed kernels are documented food; wood carves easily for bowls and tools.
Caution: Fermenting fallen fruit attracts animals and insects. Kernel extraction needs tools and nut allergy applies.
Look-alikes: Searsia species have smaller clustered fruits and often three leaflets.

food fruitfood nutcarving

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Shea tree

Vitellaria paradoxa

Land-based edible plants

Identify: Dense crown; clustered oblong leaves; plum-like green-brown fruits containing one large seed.
Habitat: West African savanna parkland.
Season: Fruit early rainy season; wood year-round.
Field use: Fruit pulp is edible; processed kernels yield shea fat for food, skin and tool protection; wood is hard.
Caution: Kernel butter processing is laborious and culturally regulated; raw kernels are not snack food.
Look-alikes: African persimmon relatives have similar fruits but different leaves.

food fruitoiltool care

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

African locust bean

Parkia biglobosa

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for African locust bean

Identify: Large twice-compound leaves, hanging ball-shaped red flower heads and long dark pods.
Habitat: West African savanna and parkland.
Season: Pods late dry season; wood year-round.
Field use: Yellow pod pulp is documented food; fermented seeds are a major seasoning; wood and bark have technical uses.
Caution: Fermentation is skilled and hygiene-dependent. Do not assume all Parkia seeds are processed the same.
Look-alikes: Albizia has flatter pods and brush-like flowers.

food podfood seedfuel

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Tamarind

Tamarindus indica

Land-based edible plants

Identify: Fine paired leaflets; brown brittle pods containing sticky sour pulp and hard seeds.
Habitat: African and Asian dry tropics, river valleys and old settlements.
Season: Pods dry season; wood year-round.
Field use: Pod pulp is documented food and drink flavoring; dense wood makes handles and fuel.
Caution: Seeds are extremely hard; avoid moldy pods. Acidic pulp can worsen reflux.
Look-alikes: Cassia pods and leaves differ; tamarind pods are brittle and pulp sticky.

food podhandlesfuel

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Monkey oranges

Strychnos cocculoides / S. spinosa

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Monkey oranges

Identify: Opposite leaves with strong curved veins; hard round yellow-orange fruit with many seeds in pulp.
Habitat: African savanna and dry woodland.
Season: Fruit dry to early wet season.
Field use: Fully ripe fruit of confirmed edible species is documented food; hard wood can make pegs and tools.
Caution: The genus includes highly toxic species. Never generalize from fruit shape or name.
Look-alikes: Toxic Strychnos species can look similar without expert regional knowledge.

food fruitpegs

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Aquatic edibles

Water-margin food species

Cattails

Typha spp.

Water and wetland edible plants

Identify: Tall flat strap leaves; dense brown cylindrical female flower spike below a narrower male section.
Habitat: Marshes, pond edges, slow channels and wet ditches.
Season: Shoots spring; pollen early summer; rhizomes year-round where lawful.
Field use: Documented food parts include young inner shoots, pollen and processed rhizome starch. Leaves make mats, baskets and thatch; seed down can bulk tinder.
Caution: Water can concentrate sewage, metals and parasites. Raw rhizome requires correct processing; avoid contaminated marshes.
Look-alikes: Yellow flag iris has sword leaves and showy flowers but no brown cattail head.

food shootfood starchbasketrythatchtinder

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Papyrus

Cyperus papyrus

Water and wetland edible plants

Identify: Tall triangular stems topped by a large umbrella of fine rays; leafless lower stem.
Habitat: African tropical swamps, lake margins and slow rivers.
Season: Stems year-round; young pith seasonal.
Field use: Stems make mats, floats, boats, cordage and shelter panels; tender pith has documented food use.
Caution: Water quality, crocodiles and deep mud are major risks. Other sedges are difficult to identify.
Look-alikes: Bulrush flower clusters are compact rather than a large umbrella.

floatboatbasketrycordagefood shoot

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

African water lilies

Nymphaea lotus / N. nouchali group

Water and wetland edible plants

Stylized form diagram for African water lilies

Identify: Round floating leaves with a slit; showy white, blue or pink flowers; seeds and rhizomes.
Habitat: Warm African lakes, floodplains and slow rivers.
Season: Flowers and seeds seasonal; rhizomes year-round.
Field use: Seeds and rhizomes of selected species have documented food use after processing.
Caution: Raw tissues can be bitter or irritating; avoid polluted or crocodile habitat.
Look-alikes: Aquatic aroids have arrow leaves and a spadix.

food seedfood starch

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Traditional-use

Documented traditional medicine

Moringa

Moringa oleifera

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Identify: Triply compound leaves; white fragrant flowers; long slender three-angled pods; soft pale wood.
Habitat: Tropical dry regions, villages and disturbed ground.
Season: Leaves much of year; pods seasonal.
Field use: Young leaves and pods are documented foods after cooking; seeds have limited water-clarification use in controlled settings.
Caution: Seeds do not disinfect water and can add organic matter. Roots and concentrated medicinal use are unsafe.
Look-alikes: Senna and other compound-leaved trees lack the long three-angled pods.

food greenfood podwater clarification

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

African wormwood

Artemisia afra

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Stylized form diagram for African wormwood

Identify: Gray-green aromatic finely divided leaves; small inconspicuous flower heads; woody base.
Habitat: African highlands, grassland and disturbed mountain slopes.
Season: Growing season.
Field use: Widely documented traditional aromatic and respiratory use; dry stems support tinder.
Caution: No survival dosing. Concentrated oils and teas can be toxic, especially in pregnancy or seizure disorders.
Look-alikes: Other Artemisia species and unrelated gray shrubs resemble it.

medicinetinder

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

African aloes

Aloe spp.

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Identify: Fleshy rosette leaves with toothed margins and spikes of tubular red, orange or yellow flowers.
Habitat: African drylands, rocky slopes and fynbos.
Season: Leaves year-round; flowers seasonal.
Field use: Clear inner gel of a few correctly identified species has documented external soothing use; dry stalks are tinder.
Caution: Yellow latex under the rind is a strong laxative and can be dangerous. Species vary; do not eat aloe in the field.
Look-alikes: Agaves are New World plants with fibrous leaves and different flowers.

medicinetinder

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Poisonous look-alikes

Do not eat — verify before harvest

Bushman’s poison

Acokanthera spp.

Poisonous plants

Identify: Evergreen shrub or tree with opposite leathery leaves, fragrant white-pink flowers and plum-like dark fruits.
Habitat: African dry woodland, savanna and forest edge.
Season: Year-round foliage; fruit seasonal.
Field use: No food use. Historically used as arrow poison.
Caution: Contains potent cardiac glycosides; wood, sap, fruit and smoke can be dangerous.
Look-alikes: Wild olives have narrower silvery leaves and no milky poisonous sap.

poison

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Strophanthus

Strophanthus spp.

Poisonous plants

Identify: Woody climber with opposite leaves, showy flowers with long twisted tails and paired follicles containing tufted seeds.
Habitat: African tropical forest and woodland.
Season: Flowers and fruit seasonal.
Field use: No survival use. Historically used as arrow poison.
Caution: Cardiac glycosides can be fatal by ingestion or contamination of wounds.
Look-alikes: Other Apocynaceae vines may have milky sap and are also suspect.

poison

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Flame lily

Gloriosa superba

Poisonous plants

Identify: Climbing herb with tendril-like leaf tips and red-yellow reflexed flame-shaped flowers; underground tubers.
Habitat: African and Asian tropical grassland, thicket and forest edge.
Season: Wet season.
Field use: No food or medicine use.
Caution: All parts, especially tubers and seeds, contain colchicine-type toxins and can be fatal.
Look-alikes: Edible yams twine differently and have inconspicuous flowers.

poison

POWO photos iNaturalist photos

Castor bean

Ricinus communis

Poisonous plants

Identify: Large star-shaped palmately lobed leaves; spiny capsules; glossy mottled seeds.
Habitat: Warm disturbed ground, riverbanks and tropical/subtropical waste areas.
Season: Growing season; seeds seasonal.
Field use: No survival food or medicine use. Oil extraction is industrial, not a field process.
Caution: Chewed seeds can release ricin and cause severe or fatal poisoning.
Look-alikes: Jatropha has similar lobed leaves but different fruit; it is also toxic.

poison

POWO photos iNaturalist photos