- Throw liberal o’er the prop; while ochra1 bears
- Aloft his slimy pulp, and help disdains.
- There let potatos mantle o’er the ground;
- Sweet as the cane-juice is the root they bear.2 [460]
- There too let eddas3 spring in order meet,
- With Indian cale, and foodful calaloo:4
- While mint, thyme, balm,5 and Europe’s coyer herbs,
- Shoot gladsome forth, nor reprobate the clime.
moon-shine, the small or common; and, lastly, the black and red. The flowers of all are white and papilionaceous;6 except the last, whose blossoms are purple. They commonly bear in six weeks. Their pulse is wholesome, though somewhat flatulent; especially those from the black and red. The pods are flattish, two or three inches long; and contain from three to five seeds in partitional cells.
VER. 457. Ochra] Or Ockro. This shrub, which will last for years, produces a not less agreeable, than wholesome pod. It bears all the year round. Being of a slimy and balsamic nature, it becomes a truly medicinal aliment in dysenteric complaints. It is of the Malva species. It rises to about four or five feet high, bearing, on and near the summit, many yellow flowers; succeeded by green, conic, fleshy pods, channelled into several grooves. There are as many cells filled with small round seeds, as there are channels.
VER. 459. potatos] I cannot positively say, whether these vines are of Indian original or not; but as in their fructification, they differ from potatos at home, they probably are not European. They are sweet. There are four kinds, the red, the white, the long, and round: The juice of each may be made into a pleasant cool drink; and, being distilled, yield an excellent spirit.7
VER. 461. eddas] See notes on Book I. The French call this plant Tayove. It produces eatable roots every four months, for one year only.
VER. 462. Indian cale] This green, which is a native of the New World, equals any of the greens in the Old.
VER. 462. calaloo] Another species of Indian pot-herb, no less wholesome than the preceding. These, with mezamby,8 and the Jamaica prickle-weed,9 yield to no esculent10 plants in Europe. This is an Indian name.
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Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is probably native to Africa and was one of the most commonly cultivated plants in the provision grounds and gardens of the enslaved. It possesses a glutinous or slimy pulp that was used as a thickener in stews called pepper pots, one of the most popular dishes in the colonial Caribbean (Higman 174-175). ↩︎
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Grainger refers to sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas), which probably originated in Central America or northwestern South America. ↩︎
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Edda or eddo is commonly referred to as taro (Colocasia esculenta). It also, however, sometimes referred to yautia (Xanthosoma sagittifolium). Both plants produce roots that were consumed by the enslaved because they were easy to cultivate and had a high yield. Colocasia esculenta originated in southeastern or southern Central Asia but was being cultivated in Africa by 100 CE. From there, it was brought to the Americas on slave ships, which stocked it as food. Xanthosoma sagittifolium has a native range extending from Costa Rica to tropical South America (Higman 82-86). ↩︎
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The term “Indian cale” also can refer to the species Colocasia esculenta and Xanthosoma sagittifolium. Since the seventeenth century, “callaloo” has been used to refer to several different plants. Today, callaloo usually refers to Amaranthus viridis, a plant whose native range is the tropical Americas. What the various plants labeled callaloo had in common was the ability of their leaves to serve as edible greens. They are also weedy plants that can survive in a wide range of environments, including wastelands. They formed an important part of the diets of the enslaved, probably because they were a hardy and reliable source of food (Higman 100-107). ↩︎
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Balm is the name of various aromatic plants, particularly those of the genera Melissa and Melittis. ↩︎
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Butterfly-shaped. ↩︎
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Mobby or mobbie, an alcoholic drink made from the sweet potato. The origin of the drink’s name is Carib. ↩︎
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Gilmore identifies mezamby as probably Cleome gynandra, a plant whose native range is the tropical and subtropical Old World. ↩︎
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Might refer to Amaranthus spinosus, a plant sometimes known as prickly callaloo. Its native range is Mexico and the tropical Americas. ↩︎
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Suitable for food, edible. ↩︎