Potions, Poisons and Panaceas: An Ethnobotanical Study of Montserrat

376 Pages·1998·4.57 MB·English

by  David Eric Brussell

Potions, Poisons, and Panaceas : An
title:
Ethnobotanical Study of Montserrat
author: Brussell, David E.
publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
isbn10 | asin: 0809315521
print isbn13: 9780809315529
ebook isbn13: 9780585147581
language: English
Ethnobotany--Montserrat, Botany--
Montserrat, Plants, Useful--Montserrat,
subject
Traditional medicine--Montserrat,
Montserrat--Social life and customs.
publication date: 1997
lcc: GN560.M66B78 1997eb
ddc: 581.6/1/0972975
Ethnobotany--Montserrat, Botany--
Montserrat, Plants, Useful--Montserrat,
subject:
Traditional medicine--Montserrat,
Montserrat--Social life and customs.
Page i
Page ii
Page iii
Potions Poisons and Panaceas
An Ethnobotanical Study of Montserrat
David Eric Brussell
Foreword by Richard Evans Schultes
|Preface by J.-P. Theurillat
Southern Illinois University Press
Carbondale and Edwardsville
Page iv
To Prem Rawat
and Esther Trout
Copyright © 1997 David Eric Brussell
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
00 99 98 97 4 3 2 1
All photographs not indicated otherwise by David Eric Brussell
"MysterySouth of Us" from Floridays, by Don Blanding (Port
Salerno, Florida: Valentine Books, 1977). Copyright 1969 by
Security-First National Bank. Reprinted with permission.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brussell, David Eric
Potions, poisons, and panaceas: an ethnobotanical
study of Montserrat / David Eric Brussell: foreword by
Richard Evans Schultes; preface by J.-P. Theurillat.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
1. EthnobotanyMontserrat. 2. Botany
Montserrat. 3. Plants, UsefulMontserrat. 4. Folk
medicineMontserrat. 5. MontserratSocial life
and customs I. Title.
GN560.M66B78 1997
581.6'1'0972975dc20 90-25873
ISBN 0-8093-1552-1 CIP
ISBN 0-8093-1553-X (pbk.)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

Page v
MYSTERYSOUTH OF US
Florida thrusts like a guiding thumb
To the southern islands of rumba and rum,
To the mystery-cities and haunted seas
Of the Spanish Main and the Caribbees.
Where the ghosts of Columbus and
Pirates Bold
Seek the Islands of Spice and the Streets
of Gold,
Where the wandering phantom of Ku-Kul-Kan
Haunts the temples he builded in Yucatan,
Where the jaguars prowl and the lizards crawl
On a broken altar and sculptured wall,
Where Mayan rulers in arrogant pride
Dreamed and schemed and suffered and died.
The inlaid thrones and the sacred urns
Are filled with orchids and stag-horn ferns,
The witching moon of the tropic skies
Caresses the lips and the dead stone eyes
Of fallen idols of lust and blood
That lie in the mold and the reeking mud
Of fever-jungles. The dust and bones
Of men who quarried and laid the stones
Of fabulous cities are turned to earth.
The echoes of prayers and chants and mirth
Of vanished people and priests and kings
Are heard in the night-wind's whisperings.
The seas and straits and bays and coves,
The peaks and the valleys and swamps
and groves
Hold ruins of dreams that were dreamed
by men
In centuries lost and beyond our ken.
There are names that were spoken by long-dead lips
Of men who came in their gallant ships,
Bahama . . . Barbados . . . Havana . . . Bermuda . . .
Jamaica . . . Tortuga . . . Caracas . . . Barbuda . . .
Martinique . . . Port au Prince . . . Santiago de Cuba . . .
Windward Isles . . . Leeward Isles . . . Isle of
Pines and Oruba . . .
Trinidad . . . Margarita . . . Tobago . . . Inagua . . .
Orinoco . . . Honduras . . . Yucatan . . . Nicaragua
Guatemala . . . Porto Rico . . . Costa Rica . . .
Cartagena . . .
Venezuela . . . Baranquilla . . . Maracaibo . . . Magdalena.
Florida thrusts like a guiding thumb
To the southern islands of rumba and rum,
To the lands of mystery that lie below,
To the places I know I'm going to go.
DON BLANDING
Page vii
Contents
Plates viii
Figures ix
Foreword xi
Richard Evans Schultes
Preface xii
J.-P. Theurillat
Acknowledgments xiii
Map 1. The Caribbean Region xv
Map 2. Montserrat xvi
Introduction 1
Description of the Study Area 7
Ethnobotanical Uses and Specific Discussion 15
Appendix: A Plant Collection from Montserrat 135
References Cited 157
Index of Common Names 161
Index of Scientific Names 169
Page viii
Plates
Following page 68
1. Plumeria rubra, red frangipani
2. Philodendron giganteum, big chaney bush
3. Coconut (Cocos nucifera) inflorescence
4. Patricia Rabess with coconut leaf fibers
5. Crescentia cujete, calabash
6. Bixa orellana, annatto
7. Silkcotton dugout canoe
8. Informants with mammy apples
9. The author collecting beach morning glory specimens
10. Momordica charantia, maiden apple
11. Sechium edule, christophine
12. Informant with Diospyros revoluta, black apple
13. Hura crepitans, sandbox tree
14. Caesalpinia bonduc, grey nicker
15. Piscidia piscipula, dogwood
16. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, hibiscus
17. Hibiscus sabdariffa, sorrel
18. Artocarpus altilis, breadfruit