bitterleaf a name given to Vernonia amygdalina, an African shrub, and some other plants of the same genus. The leaves are used in W. and S. Africa as a pot-herb or for seasoning. Cultivation, practised on a small scale, had produced plants whose leaves are less bitter than those gathered from the wild.
These leaves are readily available in Nigerian markets, either fresh or dried.
© the Estate of Alan Davidson 1999, 2006, 2014 © in the Editor’s contribution to the second and third editions, Oxford University Press 2006, 2014.