]oumal of Ethnobiology 23(2): 167~185 Fall/Winter 2003

AFRICAN TRADITIONAL PLANT KNOWLEDGE IN THECIRCUM-CARIBBEAN REGION

JUDITH A. CARNEYDepartmetlt of Geography, Unilxrsity of Glli,{orniJl! Los Anlieu's,

Los Angeles, CA 90095

ABSTRACT.-The African diaspora to the Americas was one of plants as well aspeople. European slavers pmvisioned their human cargoes with African and otherOld World useful plants, which enabled their enslaved work force and free ma­roons to establish them in their gardens. Africans were additionally familiar withmany Asian plants from earlier crop exchanges with the Indian subcontinent.Their efforts established these plants in the contemporary Caribbean plant corpus.The recognition of pantropical genera of value ror food, medicine, and in thepractice of syncretic religions also appears to have played an important role insurvival, as they share similar uses among black populations in the Caribbean asweH as tropical Africa. This paper, which focuses on the plants of the Old Worldtropics that became established with slavery in the Caribbean, seeks to illuminatethe botanical of Africans in the dreum-Carlbbean

words: African dlasp(lra, Caribbe,m, etl1lnobol:any; introductions.

1'\C::lU1VU~.--l...a d~lsP,ora africaine aux Ameriques ne s'est pas limitee aux person-nes, elle a egalement affecM les Les traiteufs d'esclaves ajoutaient a leurcargaison humaine des d'Afriql.1e et du ,deux monde pour lesfaire cultiver dans leurs jardins par les esdaves ou Ie:; marrons libres. En outreIes Africains connaissaient beaucoup de plante,; d'Asie grace a de precedentsed1lan,ges de cultures avec Ie sous-continent indien. Grace a leurs efforts; ces plan­tes occupent maintenant une place importante dans la tlore des Caraioes. Lareconnaissance par les esdaves de plantes de genres pan-tropicaux ayant des va­leurs nutritives.. et religieuses, semble egalement avail' joue un roleimportant dans la survie des esdaves; les populations noires des Caraibes etd'Afrique tropicale utilisent eel> plantes de la meme fat;on. Cette etude, consacreeaux plantes tropkales du view: mondc introduites aux Caraibes par l'esclavage,a pour but de mettre en evidence l'heritage botanique des atricains dans la region,

RESUMD.-A rljaspora africana nas Americas constituiu-se de urn processo dedi'ipernao tanto de pessoas quanta de plantas. Juntamente com os carregamentosde escravos os exploradores europeus abasteciam suas naus transaWlnticas complantas origimirias da Africa e do Velho Mund(>; i5tO permitiu que tanto escravosquanto negros Iibertos as cultivassem em auas hortas e pomares. Os africanostinham farniliaridade, tambem, com muitas das de plantas e esI:'leCiariasutilizadas no £luxo de trocas comerciais e culturais corn a tndia. A pertin,kia e 0

ardil dos povos afrkano5 contribuiriam para a indusao destas plantas na boblnicacontemporanea do Caribe-. 0 reconhedmento de espedes pantropicais de valornutritivo, medicinal e religioso parece, tambem, ter desempenhado um papel im­portante na sobrevivenda deste legado botanko. Silo exemplos disto as aplica,,5ese usos de praticas culturals semelhantes, tanto no Canbe quanta na Africa Trop-

One legacy of the Atlantic slave trade is the lingering failure to consider itsvictims as deliberate botanical agents, Yet the African diaspora was one of plantsas well as people. European slavers relied upon African and other useful OldWorld plants to provision their ships, which provid&1 the means for the arri:l.'alof these species in the Americas where they were grown by enslaved Africansand free maroons (Carney 2001b). On plantation subsistence fields and in theirgarden plots, New World Africans grew African plants valued for fomt medicine,religious practices, cordage, and dyes. They also established plants of Asian originthat had long been used by Mrican societies. Their botanical knowledge addi­tionally extended to the recognition of pantropkal genera, known for healing in

which provided similar properHesfm: illness in Americas(Lowe et aL 2000:2).

The role of African plants and the ethnobotankaI legacy of enslaved Africansis especially evident today in the Caribbean. MOre than forty percent of enslavedAfricans over nearly four centuries of transatlantic slavery landed in the drcum­Caribbean area, a hight~r percentage than an}'\vhere else in the Americas (Curtin1969:268). Foods of African origin serve as the culinary touchstone of the region,while native African species figure promin€ntly in herbal phannacopoeias. Theearly extermination of the Caribbean's native populations by epidemics and geno­cide did not result in irrevocable loss of Amerindian botanict.l acumen, asneotropical endemics are found in contemporary folk medical traditions (Bru5seU19(7), New World Africans became the custodians of Amerindian botanicalknowledge (Laguerre 1987:23). Planta.tion reliance upon forced migration of en­slaved Africans delivered a steady infusion of African plant knowledge in theregion, where nvo indigenous ethnobotankal systems met and hybridizedthrough the conscious efforts of survivors.

Since the abolition of plantation slavery in the early nineteenth centurj~ im­poverished black majority populations of the Caribbean have relied upon the folkmedical heritage their enslaved, maroon, and free black forebears passed on tothem. Lack of access to safe and reliable health care by the poor has contributedto the folk pharmacopoeias and the use plants to treat illness(Laguerre 1987). The materia of many rural Caribbean people continues torely upon the roots, leaves, bark, fruits, and gum resins of diverse plants forhealing. This alternative medicinal system is especiaUy valued in contemporaryCuba. The collapse of the Soviet moc in 1989 placed the country's faltering econ­omy in ever-deeper crisis, resulting in scarcity and rising costs of imported drugs.

a result, the government began proo:lOting medicine (medicina forthe treatment of non-life threatening ailments through (a nf.!twork alternativepharmacopoeias (Carney fieldwork 1999). In dispensing herbs and roots to pre­pare decoctions long recognized for their healing properties, Cuba's medicin.a '{'If!rde

kaL 0 pre8l;'!nte artigo, 0 focahza <1.5 plantas d05 tr6pkos do Velho Mundoque foram estabeleddas no Caribe peidS popula<;oes esctavas, visa H~sgatar estacontribui¢o hist6rica dos povos africanos a regiao caribenha.

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I'"""""----------------------------------~---,..

phamlades are drawing upon a medical tradition that New World Africans de~

veloped during the era of plantation slavery.Because of its tangled cultural antecedents, the role of African plants and the

agency of New World Africans in the development of Caribbean botanical re­sources fE:'mains understated in the literature (Lowe et at 2000). The objective ofthis article is to draw attention to this heritage by focusing on the t>thnobotankalknowledge that accompanied the African diaspora to the circum-Caribbean re­gion. While the essence of the African botanical legacy is the experimentation andplant adoptions that accompanied forced migration, this article's, focus on theAfrican plants and ethnobotanical knowledge of NetV' World Africans underscoresthe nU'lgnitude of their contribution.

Divided into three parts, the discussion begins with European perceptions ofAfri<:an plant knowledge during the era of transatlantic slavery. The discussionprovides the context ror illustrating the botanical knOWledge of the Africans theyenslaved. The next section identifies this plant heritage in the circum-Caribbeanregion. Included are plants native to tropical West Africa as wen as Old Worldspe<:ies whose presence in the Americas likely resulted from the efforts of NewWorld Africans. l Plant genera of pantropical distribution serving identical pur·poses in Africa and the Caribbean are also noted, because it suggests a broaderpattern of Arrican botanical knowledge throughout a region that can be termedthe Black Atlantic (Gilroy 1993). The third section draws attention to specificplants, their use in the African diaspora, and the role of New World Africans intheir establishment.

FaIllWinl:er 2003 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY J69

HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS OF TRADITIONALAFRICAN PLANT KNOWLEDGE

Most plant species used for food medicine owe their broader distributionto introduction by human. beings (Carney and Voeks 2003; Voeks 1997). One no~

table historical example of plant dispersal by people is known as the ColumbianExchange, which refers to the monumental diffusion of plant species that followedEuropean maritime expansion from the fifteenth century (Alpern 1992; Crosby1972). Wbile the literature on the Columbian Exchange emphasizes the revoltl~

tionary role of A.merindian and Asian crop introductions by Europeans on othersocieties, there is little attention to African botanical transfers i:tnd the role of NewWorld Africans in establishing the continent's native plants elsewhere (Carney2001a.. 200lb). The emergence of three centers of plant domesticatioo in subwSa~

haran Africa (two of them in tropical West Africa) added more than 115 endemicspecies to global food supplies, while laying the foundation for an ongoing pro­cess of experimentation and crop exchanges with other Old World societies (l{ar~

Ian 1975; NRC 1(96). Enslaved Africans and free maroons continued this processin the Caribbea.n.

African plants entered the Americas repeatedly ove}' the 35O-year period ofthe Atlantic slave trade, which delivered at least ten million persons i.nto bondage(Curtln 1969). Arriving aboard slave ships as food and medicines, the plants weregrown by New Wurld Africans on plantation provision fields, dooryard gardens,and subsistence plots. In this manner, more than fifty species native to Africa

.._-------------~---_._-_ .. __... --_.

b€c:arrlepart of drcum-<:aribbean botanical resources. An additional fourteen spe­cies, of Asian origin but grown in Africa since antiquity, also were established.

Wh.ile the role of African crops in Atlantic history is reviewed elsew-hereney 200lh; Grime 1979), there is as yet no systematic overview of the medicinalspecies of African origin that are "videly used in Caribbean folk pharmacopoeias(but see M<:Clure 1982). However, the dozens of compendia of herbal medicinesnow pubHshed for the Caribbean and tropical West Africa offer a point of de­parture for the of African plant cures traditionally valued by Black Atlanticpopulations.

Along with China and India, west-central Africa represents one of the world'smost developed ethnomedkal traditions. European slavers repeatedly noted theskills of Africans in effecting cures with plants and the expertise of specific ethnicgroups--such as the Fulani, Yorubat Dahomean, and Ashanti-who were regard­ed as especially skilled with. herbal medicines (Mouser 2002:85; Olmos and Par­avisini-Gehert 2001:xviii-xix). ""/hiles resident along the West African coast oc­casionally resorted to African healers to treat illness and fevers (Mouser 2002:53­54, 66, 85; Svalesetl 2000:7()'-71, 75).

But paranoia also accompanied European perceptions of African plant skills.Resident European slave traders appear to have lived in constant fear of beingpoisoned by their mainland hosts. Jean Barbot, who made a slaving trip to theGuinea coast between 1678 and 1679, claimed that "poisoning is so commonamong the blacks and they are so skilful at it that there is much risk to whites"(Hair et 1992: I,129}~ Samuel Gamble, who captained a slave ship ca. 1793,added that merchants living in West Africa had adopted the practice or havingservants taste food and never eating alone (Mouser 2002:67). SlaVing illegally off

coast ()f Guinea lrt the 18205 and 18305, Theodore Callat warned that theMandingc were especially adept at food poisoning (Cowley 1928:83), Taking anAfrican "wife" was thought to k€ep Europeans residing along the Guinea Coastfrom being poisoned, for if a man died mysteriously she could be <:harged withhis death (Svalesen 2000:97). Despite such fears, captains of Portuguese slave shipsoften hired African healers as nurses and surgeons to treat the captives and toact as spies across the Middle Passage (Miller 1938:409).

The dual perception of African botanical skills was similarly present in plan­tation societies. Enslaved medical practitioners-variolL,>ly referred to as "rootdoctors," ((conjurers," nurses, and midwives--relied upon pharmacopoeia.,> ofroots and and occasionally, spirit possession, to treat medical problems ofphys.ical and psychological origins (Laguerre 1987; Pollitzer 1999; Savitt 1978).Writing in the 1780s, Nicholas Bourgeois noted "the marvelous cures" found onthe island of Saint Domingue (Haiti), observing that "the negroes are almost theonly ones who know how to use them." He added that the "negroes and ne­grE!SSE~S who practice medicine ... brought their treatments from their own coun­tries'/ and '';vere l'nore ingenio1..L.'> than we {Europeans] in procuring health .. ."even "the most dangerous [plant] poisons can be transformed into the most sa­lubrious remedies when prepared by a skilled hand" (Schiebinger forthcoming).But the ethnomedical knowledge of New World Africans continued to arouse thesuspicion of whites, who feared being poisoned by those they held in bondage(Aptheker 1970:192, 197-198, 241-242; Genovese 1972:224....225, 363; James 1963:

170 CAR'JEY VoL No.2

Fall IWinll2r 2003 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 171

16-17). Planters viewed Alrican traditional religions as exercises in black magic,Witchcraft, or sorcery. They attributed several attempted slave revolls in the Ca­ribbean to the use of poisons provided by practitioners of Afro-syncretic religions(Rushford 1984:67). The lamed eighteenth-century Jamakan maroon leader,"Queen Nanny," reputedly used her mastery of medicinal herbs to kill soldierssent to n,-enslave fugitive blacks (Gottlcib 2000:49). She was skilled in Nigerianobea'" which was widely practiced throughout the English-speaking Caribbean:

During slavery days the practice of Obeah was rampant in all the WestIndian Colonies, and laws were passed to put it down, and combat itsbaneful influence. There were lew of the large estates which had not oneor more Obeah men among their slaves. They were usually the oldest andmost crafty of the blacks; those whose hoary heads and harsh and lor­bidding aspect, together wilh some skill in plants of the medicJnal andpoisonous spedes, and in the superstitious rites, which they brought withthem from Guinea and Congo, qualified them for successful impositionson the weak and credulous. A great loss of slave property was caused bytheir poisonings through their use of poisonous roots and plants un­knmvn to sdrnce, found in every tropical wood (Stark 1893:165).

In making the practice of "black magic" a criminal oftense by 1760 (Lowe et a1.2000:3; Schiebinger forthcoming), the English and French plantation economies inthe Caribbean recognized the potential 01 such practices for organizing resistanceto enslavement. But the botanical knowledge of enslaved Africans was also sus­pect. It is now known that African floras contain a multitude of drug plants andalkaloid poisons (AEN 2000; Ayensu 1978; Oliver-Bever 1986). Many belong topantropica! genera with simllar properties that were also endemic to the Carib­bean.

Whether real or irnaglned, whites' fear of poisoning was such that they oftenturned to New World Africans for treatment of suspected cases. At times, thiscould lead to freedom, such as occurred with the "Negro Caesar," mentioned inthe South Carolina Gazette (1750). Caesar's manumission in 1750 resulted from hisreputed antidote for poisoning and for developing an herbal remedy for rattle­snake bite. This avenue to freedom in the U.S. South, however, was seldom offeredto enslaved women. Their skills in botanical remedies remained so valued thatthey were retained as plantation nurses (Felt 2002:64).

'Thus, in spite of their worries about plants being used for poisons, sorcery,or resistance, plantation owners continued to rely upon the ethnomedical knowl­edge of New World Africans to treat the illnesses of their enslaved workers. Intheir use 01 plants, African practices differed dramatically from those then favoredby European slavers and plantation owners. Herbal treatments were often pre­pared from living plants, rather than the dried concoctions favored in white med­icine (Pollitzer 1999:99). Vitamin-rich greens formed a central component of thediet of New World Africans, and roots and herbs made into infusions ("bushteas") remain to this day central tll the traditional eures 01 the Caribbean (Ayensu1981; Dean 1995). Tropical West Africa's rich tradition of using bush or herbalteas and grerns lor both food and medicine was undmlbtedly the source of theircontinUing importance in the Afriean diaspora. In West Africa, the leaves of at

least 150 species of plants are used as food, with 30 cultivated and some 100gathered (Irvine 1952:32-34). These herbal cures stood in sharp contTas.t to theinvasive treatments of venesection, cupping, blistering, purging, and leechingpracticed by Europeans of the plantati(m slavery era. While such techniques havelargely vanished, African herbal remedies endure to this day in the Caribbeanfolk healing system.

The survival of an African ethnomedical tradition results in part from itscapacity to deliver both physical cures as well as psychological solace to NewWorld Africans.l'lants native to the Old World tropics and Africa played a direct

in healing diseases whose origins are attributed to a spiritual origin (Rash.ford 1984). Jamaica to this day memorializes the ethnomedical skins of New WorldAfricans. U[M]ost tht~ herbs, barks, and roots" used in folk medicine "originallybore African names, which suggests the handing down of traditions from onegeneration to the next" (Barnett 1976:68). Plants with obeah are namedNJohn" or "Jumbie" and known as IIdUppy''' plants, for their linkage to the worldof spirits. These include the African native, "Duppy Cotton" (Calatropis procera(Ait) Ait. £.), "John Crow Bead" (Abrus precaJ.orius) of Old World tropical origin,the pantropical edible spinach "Duppy Calalu" (AnUlrarrthus spinnsus), and the silkcotton tree (Ceiba pentlliuJra), where "duppies" live at its roots (Perkins 1969;ford 1984).

Species known in Africa figured in the pharmacopoeias that presumably in­duced trances or death~like states that mirrored the social deal:h of slavery, epit­omized by the "zombie" in Haiti. One notable botanical component is Mucunapruriens (Davis 1983). vvnile of Asian origin, its prominence in the "zombie" de­coction suggests prior botanical familiarity with the plant in Africa. Besides Hai­tian voodoo, African plants also figure importantly in the liturgical ofother syncretic religions such as Brazilian candomble, Cuban santeria, and Ja~

maica myal, derived from Nigerian obeah (Brandon 1993; Lowe et aI. 2000.: Olmosand Paravisini-Gebert 2001:xviii; Voeks 1997). Plants of African origin used inBrazilian candomble include Garcinia kula., Aframomum mel.egueta, and·Cola acumi­£la.ta, while Newbauldia lae'vis is known in Brazil only by Nigerian Yoruba lexeml',aKoko (Voeks 1997:29-31, 45).

Vol. 23, No. :2CARNEY

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172

AFRICAN TR.I\DITIONAL PLANT K.l\;'OWLEDGE

It is often forgotten that the vanishing Amerindian population of the Carib­bean wa'3 replaced with forced African migrants who originated in tropical so­deties. Research attention has yet to elucidate how New World Afrkam--the ma­jority population in plantation societies--drew upon their knowledge of tropicalbotanical resources for food, healing, cultural identity;. and sUr\rival. Slaves land­ing on Caribbean shores, however, would have recognized many of the plantsthey encountered. Some specimens floated across Atlantic currents independentlyof human agency; birds likely dispersed others. The inherent dispersal capabilitiesof maritime and air currents, for instance, are believed responsible for the intro­duction of the African bottle gourd (Lagenaria skeraria) and Raphia taedigera to theNeotropics and Ceiba pelltandra of the Americas to Africa (Burkill 1985:281, 591;Otedoh 1977V' Other genera share a Caribbean and tropical West African bio-

Fall/Winter 2003 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBlOLOGY 173

geographical distribution (e.g., Acacia, Dacraydes, Dorstmia, Quassia, StrYC)l1ws), in­dicative of their pantropical origin (TIlorne 1972). 'Ine anthropologist Brent Berlin(1992) observes that folk societies across the world recognize taxa with desirableproperties at the level of genus, even if they do not always distinguish amongspecies. That foundation in tropical botanical knowledge provided Africans forc­ibly relocated to the Caribbean the critical knowledge for shaping Afro-Caribbeanplant resources.

The plants used by New World Africans that reveal an African legacy areidentified in Table L One hundred and twenty-five genera and species are in­duded, representing fifty-two botanical families. Nineteen genera from fifteenfamilies occur in both Africa and Latin America and are believed to share acommon origin in West Gondwana prior to continental separation (Gentry 1993:512). The table draws upon the species lists of more than three dozen sourceS toindicate whether the plant was used nutritionally, medically, or culturally (e.g.,religious practices, construction, dyeing, fiber), as well as geographical origin.

Of the 91 species listed, 52 are native to Africa. The remaining 39 includesome plants of Old World (chiefly Asian) origin that were already present inAfrica prior to transatlantic slavery, thereby illuminating the significance of Af­rican knowledge for their establishment in the Americas.

One cultivated medicinal of Caribbean origin, Spondias J1wmbht, also appearson the list for its centrality in African medicinal plant use and uncel'tainty as towhether it is also indigenous to West Africa (Burkill 1985:92). Nearly nvo dozenplants listed in Table 1 belong to genera of pantropical distribution; however, theytoo bring attention to the role of New World Africans, since the genera are usedfor identical medicinal purposes in the Antilles and tropical West Africa. Overthe 35G-year period of plantation slavery, the human populatitm flow across theAtlantic went chiefly from Africa to the Caribbean. If Amerindians independentlyknew the medicinal value of these taxa, the persistence of such plants to this dayin the Caribbean pharmacopoeia ultimately depended upon transmission by NewWorld Africans, as the Amerindian population ceased to exist in most Caribbeanplantation societies by the eighteenth century (Crosby 1972; Watts 1987).

To clarify African agency and ethnobotanical knowledge, plant species en­demic to the New World, and probably originally used by Amerindians, havemostly been excluded from the table. Neotropical plants naturally dispersed (bywind, ocean currents, or birds) to Africa in antiquity and widely used by Africansprior to the Atlantic slave trade, however, are included. Some African plants float­ed across the Atlantic on their own and were already established in the Caribbeanbefore the arrival of enslaved Africans. But most of the plants listed in Table 1depended upon deliberate introduction and the arrival of those familiar with theirproperties.

NEW WORLD AFRICANS AS ACTIVE FLORISTIC AGENTS

Carried abmrd slave ships, African plants contributed to survival, health, andeconomy in the Caribbean. The journey across the Middle Passage introducedAfrican grasses (Panicum maximum, Bracldarla mutica), possibly for bedding butcertainly as fodder for cattle (Parry 1955; Parsons 1972). James Barbo!'s slaving

_ m.~ m.~__~_.m.. __~ • '"

TABLE t-~Plants u~d by New World Africans that have aniilo:~tlS uses in the circum-Caribbean and West Africa~

Vol,

References1

CARNEY

AmaranthaceaeAmaranthus. dubius Mart. et Then NW EM 5,7,81 15A. Irybridus L sp. hybridus/A. 1)iridis Afr EM 5.. 8,20

L.A. t. PT EM J, 4, 5, 8, 11, 21,2(,,32

AmaryllidaceaeCrinurn zeyfanicum (L) L Afr M 5,8

AnacardiaceaeSpandias mombin L NW B,M 1,2,7,8, 16,17,32

AnnonaceaeArmona glabm L PT M Sf 8, 21lvftmodara Blanco Afr B,I1M 8, 14

ApocynaceaeNerium oleandt?r L Med M,P 1,2, 7,8,15,18, 32Rtmunlfirl serpentma (L.) Benth. ex PT B,D/M 8,

.!furzR ..umitoria Afzel Afr M,P 1,3,8, 32Rau:~nb'U1 spp. OW M,P 5,8,34Tabemaem.ontcma spp. PT 1\1 2,4,8, 15,32

AraIiaceae

Polyscias (W Bull) LR. OW M 5,8Bailey

Asteraceae

Ambrosia spp. PT M 5,8Arteml~~ia "'pp, PT M t 5, B, 32Edipta i~lw (L,) Iiassk PI M 1,2,5,8,22,32Emilia coC!::.inea C.Don O\.v F/M -t,5, 7, BSenecio spp. Afr M 5,8Vernm1it~ &PP. .PT eM 2,51 7,8, 20, 32-

BegoniaceaeBegofliJ< sl'p. I'T M S, 8,15

BignoniaceaeNewbouldia ia~Ji$ {Po Beauv.) ~111. Afr M,R 8,35

ex Bureau

BomhacaceaeAdansonia digitata L. Afr Fb,F,M t 5,8, 20, 29,32(elba per1timdra (L.) Caertn. N'W E,F, fb,M 1,2, 3,5,7, 8, 32

Boraginal'eaeCordi« PI B,F,M 1, 2/15, 20r 32

indicum L j\(r M 1,2,5,8,32,36

174

Taxon Us~

il

TABLE l-(continued)

Taxon Use§ References'll

BrassicaceaeBrassiCII integrifalia (B. "Vest) Rupf. AfT F 20B. oleracea 1.. OW F 20Brassica spp. OW F 20

Burseraceae

DacrJPdes spp. PT M 5,8,15

CannabaceaeCannabis satittl L OW M 5,8, 18,22,23

CaryophyllaceaeDrymaria cordata (L) WiUd. ex PT M 5,8,32Schult

CelastraceaeMaytemts spp. OW M 3,4, .5

ClusiaceaeCarcinia kola Heckel Afr R 35

CombretaceaeC<J]wcarpus erectus L PT M 2,5,8

CommelinaceaeCommelina diffuStl Burm. 1. PI F,M 4,5, j, 8, 20

Convolvu1aceaeArgyreia spp. PT M 5,8EwJ:uulus spp. PI M 5,8,32

CrassulaceaeBryophyllum pinnatum (L f.) Oken Afr M 5,8,22Kalanchoe integra (rv1.edik) Kuntze All' M,R 8,21,3.5

CucurbitaceaeCitru!lus lantltus (Thunb.) l\·fatsurn. Afr EM 5,8,18

& NakaiCucumis safilJUS L. OW F,M 5,8,12,18Lagenaria siceral'ia (Molina) StandI. .Afr M,R 2,8,21,32Luffa cylindrica M. Roem, unkn Fb 7,8Momordica charantia L. Afr ~M 1,2,5, 7, 8,9, 16,17,

18,20,21,22/ 23,32,34

CyperaceaeCludium mariscus (I...) Pohl PT M 5/ 8,36Cypen/5 I.lrticulatus L. PT M 5/ 8C rotund/Is L £>1' M,R 5,8,35

Dioscoreil£eaeDioscorea c/1lffl1ensis Lam. Afr 11M 5,8, 12, 14,22D. roiundafa¥ Poir. Afr fi,M 5,8

Fall/Winter 2003 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY 175

TABLE l-{continued)

Taxon Geographical Use§ References1origint,'l[--_.__.

Acalypha spp. OW M 5,8AlcJumteu spp. PT M 4,5,8Croton I.obatus L. OW M 1, 5, 8,32Crotfm spp. PT M 5r 7r 8Euphorbia hirta L OW M 4,5,8,22E. Jr.If~9(jp~folia L. Afr M 5,8E. thym~folul L PT M 5,8,22E. tirucalli L Afr M,P .5, 1,8, :Z1 j 22Phyl1antllUs amarllS Thonn. Afr M 4,5,8,18Phylumthns spp. OW EM 1,5,7, 15, 22Ricinus commu.nis L- Afr M,P 1,2,5,7/ 8.15, 17, lR

19,22,30, 35,36Fabaceae--Caesalpinioideae

BflUhiHia spp. OW M 5,8Caesaipiriia bonduc (L.) Roxb. PI M,P 5,7,8/ 21Tamarindus indial L. AfT EM 1/ 2,5,7,8,17,18,32

f-abaceae-MimosoideaeAcacia 5pp. PT B, M,P 5,71 8,19

Fabaceae--PapilionoideaeAlm~s precatorius L. OW M,R 1,2,4,5,7,8,18,221

30,32Cajanu.8 Ciljim (L) Millsp. Afr F,M 7,8,18Crotalnrm illcana L. Air M .5,8Crotl1fr,rria spp. OfV M 5/ 8Derris spp. OW M 5,8,22

, Desmodium adscendens (Sw,) OC, Afr M 5,8

I D. incanum (5w.) DC. PI' M 5,8,34D t1'l.'florum (L) DC, PT M 5,8,36

l lndig(:fem spp. PT D 5,7,8wblab purpureus (L.) Sweet Arr D/~MfP 5,8

~ Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC. OW EM 1,2,81 10, 20; 32

rVigna subterranea (L.} Verde. Afr D,Fb, ~ 8/ 28

M/PE unguiculata (L) Walp. Afr F,M 8,20

I

1Flacourtiaceae

Oncoba spp, Air m 5/ 8,22

I Lamiaceae

~ HYI'tis spp. PT M 5,8,16, IS, 19, 22I' Leonotis rtepetifolia (1.) R. Br. Afr M 1,5,7,8, 15, 18, 21,e

~ 34, Ocimum basilicum L PT F,M 1,2,4,5,8,15,21,32

(l L. Afr M t4,5,8, 22,32

LauraceaeL. Afr M 5,7,8,21

176 CARNEY Vol. 23, No.2

Fall/Winter 2003 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBlOLOGY 177

TABLE 1-(continued)__mm.__

Taxon Use§ References~

LoganiaceaeStrychnos spp, PT P 3,8,23,24,35

MalvaceaeAbelmoschus (~culentus (L) Moench, Afr F,M 2,5,8,20,32Hibiscus SIlbdariffa L Afr Fb,F,M 5, 7, 8, 20, 21Hibiscus spp. OW Fb,F,M 5,8,17SidtJ act/fa Burm. f. PT M 5,8,15S, urens L PT M 5,8Urena Iobata L. PT M 5,8,15,20

MeliaceaeCarapa spp, PT M 5,8,22

~'1enispermac€'ae

CissampehJs spp. OW M 4,5,8,18,19,34

IvforaceaeDorstenill spp, Afr 'Vi 5,8

r-",loringaceaeA10ringa oleifera Lam. OW F,M 3,5,71 8,18,19,20

NyctaginaceaeBoerluroia diffusa L, PT M 5,8,. 15, 22

OchnaceaeSauwgesia erecta L. unkn M 5,8,15,21

OxalidaceaeOxalis comiculata L PT M 5,8,21

PedaliaceaeSesamum all1tum Thonn. Air F 8,12, 165, radiatum Schum, & Thonn, Air F,M,R 8,12

PipcraceaeR;peromia pellucid" (L) Kunth PT M 5,8,15,18,20,21,32

PlumbaginaceaePlumbago capensis Thunb, Afr M 5,8,15

PoaceaeAndrapegon spp, OW M 5,8,17Brachiaria mutica (Forssk) Stapf Air Fr 25CYllodon daclyllm (L.l Pers. Afr M 5,7,8,36Elcusine indica (L) Gaerln. Air F,M 5,7,8,15Oryza glaberrima St€ud. Afr F,M 8,27Panicum maximum Jacq. Afr Ft,1V1 5,8,15,18,25Penniselum glaucum (L.) R Br. ~t\fr Fr, F 8,9P. purpureum Schumach. Afr Pr, EM,R 8,13Sorghum bico{or Kuntze Afr PrJ F 8, 14Veth'f'rin zizanloides (L.) Nash OW Fb,M 5,7,8

RituaL

VoL 23, No.2

Poison;R

3,5,8,14, 19,35

Old \'Vorld; PT Pantropic"l;

Medicine; P

F,M,R

Referencesl

B,M 5,8,21

F,M t 2, 5, 8,32F,M 5,8M 5,8

D,M S,7,8

F,M,P t 4, 5, 7, 8, 30, 31, 32, 37M 1, 2, S,8, 15, 32

M 2,5,8,9,22

F,M.R 4" 5, 6, 8,19, 2L 35

F,M 1,32M 4,5,8,15,21,34

Fb, f~M 5, 8, 20, 23, 34M 5,8

Food; :viF

CARNEY

of Plants: Burkitl 1985-2000; Hickman 1993; Hutchinson

AfrK. Schum.

t Afr Afrira; Med Mediterranean basin; NW New World; OWuokn unknown origin.§ B Building; D Dye,: Fb Fibff; Fr'1lklOks consulted, References.Books Consulted for Geographicaland Dalziel 1954; 1992.References: hAbbiw 2-A-t-es 1939; 3-AEN 2000; 4-Ayensll 1978,: 5--Ayertsu J981; 6-Brandon

7-BrusseH 1997; 8-BurkiJ11985-2000; 9-Coe and Anderson 1996; HI-Davis 1983; ll-Dean 1995;u-\,.,>nme 1979; 13-Hair et a1. 1992; 14-.Hall 1991; 15~Honeychurch 1980; 16-Irvine 1952; 17-jordan1986; 18-Lowe et a12ooo; 19-Madge 1998; 2Q-Martin et at 1998; 21--Mors et aL 2000; 12-{)Jiver-Bever1986; 23-01moo and Paravi::;ini-(;ebert 2001; 24-0ledoh 25-Purson:\ 1972; 26~Perki1\S 1969; 27-Porteres 1955; 1%0; 2~,.price 29-Rashford 1987; 1993; 31«-Rllshiord 2001;1991-~1992; 1965; et aL 1997; 35-Voeks 1997; :'l<i-Wanderlin 1998; 37-VIJamer-Lewis 199L

Taxon

TABLE l--{continued)

RhiwphoraceaeRhiz.opflort/ mangle L PT

Rubiaceae

Correa arabictl 1. ArrC~·liberica W Bull ex Hiern AfrOldenlandia corymbos&l 1. Afr

RutaceaeZantflOxylftm spp. unkn

SapidaceaeBligl%ia sapida K.D. Koenig AfrCardiospermum halicacabum 1. Afr

SimaroubaceaeQuassia spp. PT

StercuHaceaeCola acuminata (P. Bea1.1V,J Schott Afr

& EndlC nitidtl (Vent) Schott & EndL AfrWaltheria indica L PT

TiliaceaeCvrchorus spp. O'll'/Triumfetbl spp. PT

Zingiberaceae

178

voyage along the Guinea Coast in 1699~1700 commended the Portuguese us­ing coarse, thick mats as bedding on slave ships, which were changed every fewweeks (quoted in Dow 1927:82). Guinea grass (Panicurn maximum) was reportedin Barbados in ]684 and introduced to in 1745, where it "gave a greatimpetus to cattle raising" (Parry ]955:11). Many crops provisioned the enslavedaboard ships, providing the means for New World Africans to establishthem in plantation subsistence fields and their dooryard gardens. These indudedAfrican rice (Oryza glaberrima), yams (Dioscarea cayensis, D rotundata), cow [black-

179JOURNAL ()f ETHNOBIOLOGYFaU/VVintef 2003

eyed] peas (Vigna ungu.iculata), pigeon [congo] peas {(.ujarrus cajaH), meleguetapeppers (Aframomunl melegUi:?ttl.), palm oil (Elaeis ;;,ruineensis), sorrel/roselle (HibiscussaIJaa11fflirt okra (Abelmaschus esculentus), sorghum (Sorghum bicalor}, mmN ,n':I"'­setum glaucum, Ileusitle coracana), and the Bambara groundnut (Vigna SUtlterrarl'i?a)(Berleant-Schillef Pulsipher 1986; Carney 2001b; Chaplin 1993; Fredrich 1976;Parry 1955; Pollitzcr 1999: Price 1991; Pulsipher 1994; Wilson 19M).

One A.frkan plant, the castor bean (Ricinus cormnunis), was used for lamp oil,medicine} and ev'en as a hair tonic (Fredrich 1976:192). Prominent African l'nedic­inal plants introduced during the era of transatlantic slavery include .Moffwrdicaclwnm'tiCl} Kahmchae integra, Phyllanthus Cl11lflrus, Leonotis nepetifolia,and Corchol'Us spp. (Burkill 198.5:558; 1994:119; 1995:14-15; Price 1991; du Toit2001:2l}. The curative value of Kalctrlclwe is reflected in it:; wmmon names, Jllong­life" and "never-die/} while "maiden apple" or th€ uAfrican cucumber" (A'fomor-

as the single most important of African origin inthe Black Atlantic. it is used as an aphrodisiac as \'lfeH as an aborti£acif'.11t, to treatsnakebite, pain, high blood pressure and as an. anti-inflamma±oryfor rheumatismand arthritis (Lowe et aL 2000:123). Anoth(!f Old World plant esteemed for healingamong populations of tht; African diaspora is Abrus precatorius, a venerable SouthAsian ayurvedic medicine that already diffused to the African subcontinentfrom India long before the onset of the transatlantic slave trade. as a febri­fuge and expectorant by Caribbean diasporic populations, A. prec(ltDrius remainsan esteemed lterbal remedy throughout the Black Atlantic (Ayensu 1978, 1981;Coe and Anderson 1996; McClure 1982}.

Other plads of African origin established in the Caribbean ml1te-riti medica arewronl~ly attributed an thereby the African floristic con­tribution to folk pharmacopoeias, Tropkai Old World plants formed partof an andent history of exchanges between Africa and Asia (notably, with Indiaand China). Tamarind (liunl!rirulusindic~I),castor bean (Ricinus communis), and

(lllu:,brloschus esculelltus). for example, provide examples crops that origi-nated in Africa and diffused to Asia between one and three thousand years ago(Alpern 1992; Harlan 1975; Kiister 2000:431-437; Vaughan and Geissler 1999). Oth­er Afric<1n domestkates.. such as sorghum. (5urglrum bicolor) and millets (PemIL<;efumglaucum, Eleusinc can:u;t1ni1), became the &ubjects of intense plant breeding in Indiathousands of years ago before returning again to Africa as flew varieties (NHC1996:189; Vaughan and Geissler 1999:10; Watson 1983: 9-11).

Still other plants of Old World origin were long established in Africa prior totheir di.t3semination across the Atlantic by slave ships. These include mustardgreens and kale, introduced from thel\1editerranean, and sesame, originally ofAsian origin but so long used in Africa that it bears the name, benne, whichbecame the plant's natne in the US, South (Bedigian 2000:41&-419; Irvine 1952;lomuy and Hopf 2000:140-141). Plant between Indi.'1 and Africa bymaritime and overland routes had been underway for millennia before Europeansbegan enslaving Africans in the fifteenth century (Alpern 1992; Harlan 1975; Mc­Clure 1982). Taro (Co[ocGsia escuJenla).. lime (Citrus Clunmtijolia), the luffa sponge(LuJfa spp.), an edible green (Celosia argenten)} and banana and plantain (l~lusa spp.)offer examples of Asian crops that diffused to in. pn~history (Alpern 1992;

No. 2.Val.

Burkill1985:53-55; McNeill 2000; Russell-Wood 1998:148-182; Vaughan and Geis­1999; Watson 1983}.Marijuana. (Cannabis satiV>1) provides yet another example of a plant of Asian

origin that likcly arrived in American tropics via While marijuana isof ancient Asian origin, it followed two divergent paths of co-evolution with hu­man beings in prehistory, Its movement west from ancient China into northernEurope involved the plant's selection for cordage, especially the strength andlength of the fibers, a use for which it would become kno\\r'TI as hemp. Alonganother path of diffusion~from central Asia; into India and onward to A tl'H";I­

cannabis was for its medicinal properties. It is believed to have enteredthe Americas as a medicinal on slave ships (Pollan 2001:157).

The nineteenth-century Brazilian name for Asian soybeans, "Angola pea­nuts," also suggests a transcontinental transfer via Africa as does the initial namegiven to eggplant in the U.S. South, "Guinea squash" (Dean 1995:127).3 Despitethe signifirance of plant behveen Africa and Asia in the mHlennia priorto European maritime expansion, emphasis remains on the Columbian Exchangeand the role of in transcontinental f'Gllawing McNeill(2000), this earlier, and ancient, period of plant transfers between two parts ofthe world that ,vere subsequently enslaved and!or colonized by Europeans couldbe termed the "Monsoon Exchange" (Russell-Wood 1998;33-40).

Among the medicinals of tropical Asian origin listed in Table 1, Mucuna pru-has long been. valued in the Black Atlantic. It traditionally as an

aphrodisiac, as a substitute for coffee, as a cure for syphilis, and as a componentof the concoction to produce the Haitian "zombie" (Davis 1983:89; Fredrich1976:61). The significance of many Asian medicinals in Afro-Caribbean folk med­kine began with their previously established value to Africans long before thewave of Asian and Chinese immigration to the Caribbean that dates to the nine­teenth century.

With the exception of the coffee plant and the oil palm, Europeans were notmuch interested in plants of African origin (Chaplin 1993:156). While these twova.lucd tree species would becOlne plantation <rops in the Caribbean, most plantsindigenous to Africa depended upon Ne\'\' World Africans for their establishmentras whites did not consume them. African domesticates that became important inCaribbean cuisines include the ackee apple (Blighia sapidat which is cooked with

in Jamaica; wild spinach or pigweed (Am«rantl1Us hybridus, Amaranthusspp.) that gives calaluu, the region's popular "pepper pot" soup, its distinctiveflavor along with bitter leaf (Venumul spp.) and Brassica spp., the "greens" favoredin diaspora dishes. Other African introductions include the baobab (Adansoniadigltata), whose fruits are stiJl consumed in St. and the kola nut (Cola (1(:­

u11linata, C. nitidll), a non-alcoholic stimulant with medicinal properties !:hat wasespedally valued by Muslim slaves (Ayensu 1981; Rashford 1987, 1993,2001). Thekola nut was also used to make a refreshing beverage, which Barbot described inlate seventeenth-century West Africa:

There is also a fruit called 'cola' and by olhers, '<:octefs', which quenchesthe thirst and water delicious to those who make use of it. It is akind of chestnutj with a bitter taste. The blacks assured me that they did

180

181JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY

great tt"ade with these in the upper parts of their country;. where they soldthem to people who are ab:nost white, who come there expressly at certaintimes (apparently these are Egyptians or Moroccans). Here is a drawing,showin.g it both whole and cut open down the middle. I give it naturalsize, The outside is red mixed with blue and the .ingjde violet and brown,(quoted in Hair et al. 1992:1, 188).

Fall/Winter 2003

Fieldwork suggests the nut may have been similarly used in the Americas; inBelize today it is prepared a" a beverage by New World Africans.4 An ingredientof medicinal tonics in the southern U.S. during the nineteenth century, kola nutwould join the coca leaf in the making of the world's most famous beverage, Coca­Cola (Pendergrast 1993). Perhaps no other concoction better celebrates the mar­riage of the Amerindian and Mrican ethnobotanical heritage of the Americas.5

New World Africans also recognized genera attributes were known inAfrica. 'The genus StrycJufOs, for instance, served as a poison throughout the BlackAtlantic. Rauwolfia which ad as tranquilizers! were commonly used in Africaas well as by diaspork populations in the Caribbean. Euphorbia spp.! which pro­vided relief fmm colds! indigestion! and pain! are found in traditional phalma­<:opoelas both areas. Another genus! Quassia, is the source of a valued febrifugein the tropical Black Atlantic. This is the only genus that specifically recognizesthe plant contribution of a New World African to the Americas. It is namedQuassi, a slave, healer, and "sorcerer," who ,vas carried off from West Africa toSuriname, and became famous for promoting the plant's curative propertiesaround 1730 (Grime 1979; Stedman 1963 [1777]). When a specimen of the plantwas brought to t.he attention Linnaeus in 1761, he named the genus after Quas­at thereby immortalizing the contribution. use of the genus as a febrifugecontinues to this day in eastern Nicaragua by the Gar'funa, descendants of NewWorld Africans and Carib Indians (COt: and Anderson

CONCLUSIONS

While recent decades have advanced our understanding of the Amerindiancontribution to New World botanical resources, the African plant heritage remainsobscured (Carney and Voeks 2(03). In botanical knowledge and agricultural do­mestication, African accomplishments were every bit as advanced as thoseerindians and Asians, whose contributions are celebrated. as part of the Colum­bian Exchange, This article's examination of the plants of the African diasporashifts the focus from the European role in intercontinental plant exchanges to thatof New World Africans in the circum-earibbean where they remain the majoritypopulation.

The plant exchanges, botanical gardens, and that accom-panied the European Enlightenment drew upon the botanical resources of thosethey colonized and enslaved while privileging European agency. Yet in 5ubsis.­fence fields, gardens, and forested tracts of plantation economies, New WorldAfricans and their descendants were engaged in a paraU£'1 paths of botanicalexperimentation and plant exchange that were equally profound. They establishedfavorite of African origin as well as those from other parts of the Old

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NOTES

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Abbiw, Daniel K 1990. Useful Plants of Gha·na: lNe1it Africa!'! U'Q'S of Wild find Cuili­mted Plants. Intermediate TechnologyPublications and the Royal BotanicalV .......l~;H", Kew. .

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Following Burkill (1985) and O\jver~Bever(1986), tropical West Africa refers to the regionfrom south along the coast to Cameroon and inland to Chad.

The author would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Richard Rosomoftlisa Chaudhari, Emerio Morej6n, Tom Gillespie, Barry Prigge, and TH Culhane in tht>rI'l2llluscript"s preparation. This artide benefited a great d~:al from the engaging commentsand thoughtful suggestions provided by the journal's editor and anonymous ric'VIewers.The author, however, assumes sole responsibility for the argument advanced and the in­terpretation of the plants listed in Table L Fieldwork for this project was funded by a grantfrom the latin American Studi~~sCenter at the University of California, Los Angeles.

" This was offered by doctoral student T.H. Culhane, conversation, January 24, 2001.

Vvorld long appreciated in African societies. Their efforts safeguarded for poster­it)" some of the botanical accomplishments of Amexindians as th",'Y vanished fromCaribbean islands, In promoting survivat cultural identity, spiritual succor, andresistance, the ethnobotankal knowledge of New World Africans laid the foun­dation fOr the rich traditional healing system still practiced in the Caribbean tothis day. This article offers a preliminary effort towards the recovery of theirethnobotanicallegacy.

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