Common Name(s): Bluebell Scientific Name: Clitoria ternatea Medicinal Uses: None in local tradition. In Ayurvedic medicine, it has been used for centuries as a memory enhancer, nootropic, antistress, anxiolytic, antidepressant, anticonvulsant, tranquilizing and sedative agent (Journal of Ethnopharmacology). When "butterfly pea tea" started popping up all over Instagram, I immediately wanted to know what flowers … Continue reading Bluebell
Castor Oil Plant
"The castor oil nut, or simply oil nut, was a purgative and tasted terrible but few youngsters escaped getting a dose at least once." - Cromwell Ebanks (CINA Memory Bank Interview) Common Name(s): Castor Bean, Castor Oil Plant, Castor Oil Nut, Oil Nut Scientific Name: Ricinus Communis Medicinal Uses: Made from the beans of the … Continue reading Castor Oil Plant
Wormwood
Common Name(s): Wormwood, Geranium, Running Wormwood Scientific Name: Ambrosia hispida Medicinal Uses: Leaves brewed as a tea to cure the common cold or in a compress for sprains. Also used in soap making in order to relieve itchy skin conditions. With its silvering, lobed leaves, this plant’s resemblance to Artemisia absinthium – the Old World common wormwood – … Continue reading Wormwood
Rosemary
"You boil it down strong and you can put little sugar. You see, it just like medicine." - Joselyn Rankin (CINA Memory Bank Interview) Common Name(s): Rosemary Scientific Name: Croton linearis Medicinal Uses: Tea made from the leaves and stems was used to treat diabetes and alongside other medicinal plants after giving birth. It was … Continue reading Rosemary
Dash-A-Long
"People comes from all over the whole island for this dash-a-long. Especially in the winter time when they have colds and fevers and all that. That's why I grow all of these so that I can help any neighbours that comes that wants." - Nolan Smith (CINA Memory Bank Interview) Common Name(s): Dash-a-long, Ramgoat dash-a-long, … Continue reading Dash-A-Long
What’s In A Name?
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir Plants are often identified by two sets of names: "scientific" and "common". The scientific name comprises the Genus species of the plant in question while the common names are the local nomenclature. Neither … Continue reading What’s In A Name?
