Select African Diaspora Plant Inventory (Overview and Part 1)

Amaranth

OverviewThe enslavement of West Africans to provide labor for the economic engine for European nations and the colonization of the Americas and the Caribbean. Africans who landed on these shores adapted their agricultural knowledge to newfound conditions - on large-scale agricultural productions on plantations, on plantation subsistence gardens they created to supplement their own food needs and in villages of freed slaves who fled from their captors and created their own agricultural economies to sustain their maroon communities.

We have assembled more than 100 plants from various sources - books, publications, prototype gardens and conferences. 

But this is just the beginning.   Our select African Diaspora plant inventory is North American and Caribbean-centric.  We will eventually add more plants from the current gardening scene in West Africa, the Caribbean and South America.

Sources consulted

1. New York Botanical Garden - African American Garden: Remembrance & Resilience

(at the Edible Academy)

2. New York Botanical Garden - African American Garden:  The Caribbean Experience

(At the Edible Academy; exhibition now closed)

3. Colonial Williamsburg Sankofa Heritage Garden

4. Truelove Seeds - African Diaspora Collection

5. Sistah Seeds - African Diaspora heirloom vegetable, herb and grain seeds

6. Seed Savers Exchange and 2024 Growing Together Conference

7. Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity

8. Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance - Ujamaa Seeds

9. In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa’s Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World

(Judith A. Carney)

10. Heirloom Vegetable Gardening: A Master Gardener’s Guide to Planting,

Seed Saving and Cultural History (William Woys Weaver)

11. Farming While Black:  Soul Fire Farm’s Practical to Liberation on the Land

(Leah Penniman)

12. From Seed to Skillet:  A Guide to Growing, Tending, Harvesting and Cooking

Up Fresh, Healthful Food to Share with People You Love (Jimmy Williams)

13. 100 Vegetables and Where They Came From (William Woys Weaver)

14. The Whole Okra:  A Seed to Stem Celebration (Chris Smith)

15. Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas

(Judith A. Carney)

This Gardening While Black Select African Diaspora Inventory is currently presented in five parts, including vegetables, herbs and spices. We update this Diaspora Inventory - gathering information from various sources, including botanical gardens, slave ships, plantati0ns, museums and the post-emancipation gardens of African-Americans and other African Diaspora communities.

Select African Diaspora Plant Inventory - Part 1 (A-C)

Abidjan, Ivory Coast – Local vendors with their products in the commune of Adjamé, Abidjan.

PLANT	CLASS	BACKGROUND / ORIGINS	PLANT	SOURCE
Ackee/Akee Apple	Blighia sapida	West Africa;  tropical;  Ackee and salt fish - popular dish in Caribbean;  fruit of Sapindaceae (Soapberry)	Ackee/Akee Apple	NYBG-Caribbean;  In the Shadow of Slavery:  Africa’s Botanical Legacy In The Atlantic World - 2009 (J. Carney)
Aloe	Aloe vera	Native to tropical and southern Africa, Madagascar, Jordan, the Arabian Peninsula and islands in the Indian Ocean	Aloe	NYBG-African-American
Amaranth:   Calaloo	Amaranthus spinosus	Domesticated in Africa, Americas and the Caribbean;  Vegetable amaranth	Amaranth:   Calaloo	NYBG-Caribbean; Truelove Seeds;  In the Shadow of Slavery - 2009 (J. Carney)
Annatto	Bixa orellana	Orange-red condiment/food coloring;  thrives in warm, humid climates (India, Mexico, Brazil, Jamaica and other locations)	Annatto	NYBG-Caribbean; Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity (Slow Food Foundation)
Arrowroot	Maranta arundinacea	West Indian arrowroot;  from indigenous group, arawak; tropical root vegetable	Arrowroot	NYBG-Caribbean; Slow Food Foundation
Banana:  African rhino horn,  Grand Palm	Musa acuminata x musa balbisiana		Banana:  African rhino horn,  Grand Pain	NYBG-Caribbean
Basil:  Besobela (Ethiopian Basil);  Vana Tulsi	Ocimum basilicum var. minimum;  Besobela - Ocimum spp/;  Vana - Ocimum gratissimum	Besobela - Ethiopia;  Vana - Africa, Madagascar, southern Asia,Bismarck Archipelago of New Guinea  Vana - West African culinary herb	Basil:  Besobela (Ethiopian Basil);  Vana Tulsi	NYBG-Caribbean; Truelove Seeds;  Colonial Williamsburg Sankofa Heritage Garden
Bay Laurel	Laurus nobvbilis		Bay Laurel	NYBG-Caribbean
Bean (legume):  Black turtle, Kebariuka,  Red kidney bean (light),  Pole snap bean	Phaseolus vulgaris		Bean (legume):  Black turtle, Kebariuka,  Red kidney bean (light),  Pole snap bean	Farming While Black:  Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land - 2018 (L. Penniman); NYBG-Caribbean;  Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance
Bean:  Lima bean;  Speckled Brown Butterbean (Bush)	Phaseolus lunatus	Per Truelove, Speckled Brown Butterbean considered a traditional delicacy of North American South;  origin in South America	Bean:  Lima bean;  Speckled Brown Butterbean (Bush)	NYBG-Caribbean; Truelove Seeds
Bean:  Mbogo green	Lablab purpureus	Kenya;  East Africa;  Creator god Mbombo	Bean:  Mbogo green	Farming While Black - 2018 (L. Pennman);  In the Shadow of Slavery:  Africa’s Botanical Legacy In The Atlantic World - 2009 (J. Carney)
Butterfly milkweed	Asclepius tuberosa	Native to eastern and southwest North America	Butterfly milkweed	NYBG-African-American
Cassava, manihot, yuca	Manihot esculenta	Edible leaves and tuber;  requires special cooking technique to reduce poison	Cassava, manihot, yuca	NYBG-Caribbean;  Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance;  Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science (The Huntington)
Catnip	Nepeta cataria	Mint family;  medicinal properties	Catnip	NYBG-African-American
Chayote	Sicyos edulis (educe);  Sechium edule	Mexico-Central America-Caribbean;  Squash, in gourd family - cucurbitaceae;  used in many Cuban recipes;  hot tropical gardens	Chayote	NYBG-Caribbean; Slow Food Foundation;  Heirloom Vegetable Gardening:  A Master Gardener’s Guide To Planting, Seed Saving, and Cultural History - 2018 (W.W. Weaver)
Cilantro (Coriander)	Coriandrum sativum	Edible annual herb likely native to the Mediterranean	Cilantro (Coriander)	NYBG-Caribbean
Coffee (robusta)	Coffee robusta	West Africa	Coffee (robusta)	In the Shadow of Slavery - 2009 (J. Carney)
Corn:  Sea Island White Flint	Zea mays	Crops from Sea Islands, Georgia, South Carolina	Corn:  Sea Island White Flint	NYBG-African-American
Cucumber:  Burr Gherkin, West Indian gherkin	Cucumis anguria	Angola to the Caribbean	Cucumber:  Burr Gherkin, West Indian gherkin	Farming While Black  - 2018 (L. Penniman);  In the Shadow of Slavery - 2009 (J. Carney)
Cucumber:  Cerasee (African cucumber/bitter melon/balsam pear)	Momordica charantia 'big top’, charantia ‘goya’, 'jade dragon’, ‘cundeamor'	Bitter melon leaf used in Jamaica for healing properties of leaves	Cucumber:  Cerasee (African cucumber/bitter melon/balsam pear)	NYBG-Caribbean; Truelove Seeds;  In the Shadow of Slavery - 2009 (J. Carney)
Culantro	Eryngium foetidum	Culinary and medicinal leafy greens commonly used in Caribbean and Latin America	Culantro	NYBG-Caribbean
Curry tree	Murraya koenigii	Tropical and subtropical tree native to Asia	Curry tree	NYBG-Caribbean