Editing Shea butter (section)

==History==
The common name is {{lang|bm|shísu}} {{lang|bm|ߛ߭ߌ߭ߛߎ}} ({{lit|shea tree}}) in the Bambara language of Mali. This is the origin of the English word, one pronunciation of which rhymes with "tea" {{IPAc-en|ʃ|iː}}, although the pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ʃ|eɪ}} (rhyming with "day") is common, and is listed second in major dictionaries. The tree is called {{lang|wo|ghariti}} in the Wolof language of Senegal, which is the origin of the French name of the tree and the butter, {{lang|fr|karité}}.

The shea tree grows naturally in the wild in the dry [[savannah]] belt of West Africa from Senegal in the west to [[Sudan]] in the east, and onto the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands. It occurs in 21 countries across the African continent, namely [[Benin]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Cameroon]], [[Central African Republic]], [[Chad]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Eritrea]], [[Ghana]], [[Guinea Bissau]], [[Ivory Coast]], [[Mali]], [[Niger]], [[Nigeria]], [[Senegal]], [[Sierra Leone]], [[South Sudan]], [[Sudan]], [[Togo]], [[Uganda]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Kenya]] and [[Guinea]].

A [[Testa (ceramics)|testa]] found at the site of the medieval village of Saouga is evidence of shea butter production by the 14th century.<ref name=neu>*Neumann, K., et al. 1998. "Remains of woody plants from Saouga, a medieval west African village". ''Vegetation History and Archaeobotany'', 7:57–77.</ref> The butter was being imported into Britain by 1846.<ref>{{cite news|title= Shea Butter|newspaper=Stamford Mercury |date=28 August 1846 |page=2}}</ref>