Plants

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Plants

Ackee (Melicoccus bijugatus)

A small, round, green fruit loved by children. The outer, green skin of the fruit is easily bitten off to expose the edible, creamy pink, gelatinous pulp which surrounds the seed. There have been cases of young children choking on the seeds of this fruit which comes into season during the summer months. The tree is tall and grey-trunked, with individual trees producing predominantly, but not exclusively, flowers of one sex only. It is native to the Guianas and its date of introduction to Barbados is unclear. It is known elsewhere as the genip (also spelt guinep or ginep) to distinguish it from the Jamaican ackee (Blighia spaida).

Aloes (Aloe vera)

A succulent plant with fleshy pointed leaves arranged in a rosette. The name is derived from the Arabic alloeh, a shining bitter substance. There are over two hundred species of Aloe, one of the three principal medicinal species. The plant which is included in the oldest herbals, was cultivated in ancient Egypt and was used in Biblical times for embalming (John 19:30).

A. Vera, which is native to the Mediterranean region, was already introduced to Barbados when Ligon visited. On his first voyage, Columbus wrote in his journal that of all the plants he saw, the Aloe was the only one he recognised. These plants are, however, not native to the Western Hemisphere, and what he saw was undoubtedly a species of Agave or MAYPOLE.

Aloes were cultivated on marginal lands in coastal St. Philip until the mid-nineteenth century. In the early stages of growth, other crops like okras and guinea corn were planted between the rows of suckers. After the aloes flowered (in February or March), the leaves were cut from the plants near the base and place tip upwards in wooden troughs to collect the slimy exudates. This was boiled in taches until very viscous, poured into gourds to solidify and shipped in this manner. A report in the local Times in 1868 gives some indication of the size of this trade with 2,915 gourds being exported the previous year. In fact, as early as 1693 'Barbados aloes' was offered by London pharmacists. The dried crystalline product is called alloin and it has many medicinal uses, the most reliable of which is as a powerful purgative. It might even be said that Barbados aloes once purged the world! In recent years, much interest has centred on the use of the leaf exudates as a topical medication for skin disorders, ulcers and even radiation burns. LIGON reckoned it 'the best medicine in the world for a burn or a scald'. It is at least bactericidal and fungicidal and it is of course widely used in cosmetic preparations. Its bitterness is well-known in Barbados where it is applied to the thumbs of youngsters who refuse to stop sucking their thumb.

Barbados cherry or acerola (Malpighia emarginata)

A small tree bearing marble-sized fruit, bright red when ripe. The stone in each fruit is of three parts and the pulp has one of the highest concentrations of Vitamin C (up to 4 per cent of fresh weight) of any fresh fruit, exceeded only by rose hips. The fruit is eaten straight from the tree, though the pulp can be made into jam and drinks or frozen and used as a dessert, 'cherry ice'. The plant is found from Mexico through Central America, northern South America and the West Indies. It may be indigenous but Barbados' claim to this fruit as in the name 'Barbados Cherry' is not recognised by other Caribbean islands.

Bearded fig tree (Ficus citrifolia)

It is said that these trees were once so common in Barbados that Portuguese sailors chancing upon the island named it after these 'bearded ones' (in Portuguese this becomes Barbados/barbadas). Even in the mid-eighteenth century this tree was reported as very common. Certainly it was considered sufficiently emblematic to grace an early eighteenth-century silver notarial seal of the island. The tree is large with many stilt roots and fine hanging roots, and Hughes recommended it as a 'sovereign remedy' against the blistering sap of the manchineel. It is often found rooted on large carolline boulders and will rapidly take possession of ruined sites.

Bread 'n' cheese

Two plants go by this common name. One is a leguminous shrub (Pithecellobium unguis-cati) bearing twisted, brownish red pods containing shiny black seeds, each half-buried in a fleshy, white or red edible covering (aril). This is sometimes grown as a hedge. The other is a vine (Paullinia cururu) bearing small, red, pear-shaped fruit which split to reveal a black seed, once again half covered by a white aril. The two plants are unrelated.

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)

A foot-ball sized, green starchy fruit used as a vegetable and borne on a large tree, native to the Pacific islands where hundreds of cultivars are known. The tree was introduced to the West Indies to provide a staple diet for slaves but the first attempt at this (1789) failed, due to mutiny by the ship's crew who saw their dwindling water rations used to water the plants. The story of this 'Mutiny on the Bounty' is well-known, with at least two film versions of the tale. The ill-fated Captain Bligh returned to Tahiti in 1792 aboard the Providence and successfully transported potted breadfruit plants to the Botanic Gardens of St. Vincent and Jamaica. The St. Vincent Botanic Garden had been established in 1765 under the directorship of a physician, Dr. George Young, and was the first of its kind in the West Indies. It was from this nursery that the Barbadian plants were obtained.

Botanically, the fruit is of some interest. Each polygon on the surface represents a single fruit developing from each flower and these coalesce to form one multiple fruit. The tree bears separate clusters of male and female flowers and the male 'blossoms' or 'swords' can be candied in sugar syrup and eaten. Breadfruit can be substituted for other starchy staples like potato in most recipes. Basically, it can be boiled, baked, fried or made into breadfruit COUCOU, as well as a delicious soup. Pickled breadfruit is especially popular, with cubes of cooked breadfruit steeped in cucumber, lime and fresh pepper pickle. The fruit is, however, probably at its best stuffed with meat and roasted on an open fired. While breadfruit is seedless, a seed form exists and goes by the name of breadfruit. The skin of the breadnut is covered by fleshy prickles. There is less edible pulp on account of the seeds which are eaten after boiling or roasting and which have a chestnut flavour.

Clammy cherry (Cordia oblique)

A tree with arching branches and rounded leaves, common in dry areas. The common name refers to the buff-coloured, marble-sized fruit with a mucilaginous pulp which has provided paper glue for past generations of children. The tree is used to make home-made cricket bats and, on account of its resistance to sea water, the wooden frames of FISH POTS. The leaves are also used to make a soporific tea. Considered indigenous for some time, it is now known to have been introduced from its naive India in the eighteenth century.

Cow itch

Cow itch is a vine of the pea family which produces hanging bunches of attractive purple flowers. The brown, felt-covered fruit pods are nother story. They are clothed in stinging hairs which cause intense skin irritation on contact. These hairs can be carried by the wind, affecting householders downwind of invested fields.

Easter flowers

Some particularly striking wild plants come into flower at Easter time. The Easter lily (Hippeastrum puniceum) is native to Barbados, producing orange-red, cream-throated flowers from an underground bulb. The latter was reputedly used as an arrow poison by Amerindians. Easter vine (Securidaca diversifolia) is a woody vine or liana producing magnificent sprays of purple flowers. The Lent or Judas tree (Erythrina variegata) produces striking scarlet flowers after dropping its leaves. A form of this tree with white and yellow leaf markings is cultivated. The famous Immortelle of Trinidad is also a species of Erythrina.

Fat pork (Chrysobalanus icaco)

A native shrub common in coastal parts of the Scotland District. Its purple plum-like fruit is edible though the inner white flesh, resembling pork fat, is rather astringent. The Caribs used its wood for torches while French West Indians use the bark to make a tea to treat diarrhoea and dysentery. It is widely used in Florida as a hedge in formal landscaping.

Mamee Apple (Mammea Americana)

A fruit tree native to tropical America, probably introduced to Barbados by Amerindians. The fruit is round with a thick brown skin, orange flesh and two to four large seeds. It has been likened to apricot and this is its common made in the French-speaking Caribbean. It is eaten as a dessert fruit or made into preserves. The grated seeds are insecticidal and were added to rum or coconut oil to treat lice infestations.

Sea grape (Coccoloba uvifera)

A shrub or small, seashore tree with rounded, saucer-sized leaves and fruit in clusters like grapes. The reddish-purple fruit are especially favoured by children. The tree can grow to a considerable size inland from the coast and there are three other Coccoloba species in the Barbados flora. Until relatively recently, sea egg was sold in a cone made by rolling a sea grape leaf. Youngsters would also shape small boats from roof shingles using as rudder a piece of cane trash or tin and a grape leaf as sail. The leaf would be skewered on to two masts made from coconut leaf 'stems'.

Shak-shak or Woman's Tongue (Albizia lebbeck)

Despite its ubiquitous presence, this is an introduced tree of tropical Asia. The tree is common on waste ground and bears creamy flowers in tassel-like heads. The straw-coloured pods mature from November through March, even persisting when the leaves are dropped in dry season. The incessant, gentle rattle of the pods in the wind has given rise to the rather unkind name 'Woman's Tongue' in various languages throughout the Caribbean. In Cuba, it is more charitably called - musico(musical)!

Source: A-Z of Barbados Heritage