This is a cultural, ecological, economic, geographical and historical study of the close wild relatives of sesame in Africa. Medical, culinary, cosmetic and industrial use of each species is assembled along with ethnographic and linguistic data. Collectively, it presents a summary of the genetic resources of Sesamum. The relative importance of each species varies by location, however most of these taxa are used in strikingly similar ways by subsistence farmers. Comparison of usage by ethnic group reveals the social role these valuable leaf vegetables play in daily life, particularly during times of shortage and famine. Fieldwork provides firsthand data, supplementing herbarium specimens and the published literature about the distribution, uses and environmental adaptations of wild Sesamum species and their close relative, Ceratotheca sesamoides Endl.