Historical versus contemporary medicinal plant uses in the US Virgin Islands

Journal of Ethnopharmacology Volume 192, 4 November 2016, Pages 74-89 Author links open overlay panelJ.SoelbergacO.DavisbA.K.Jägerc https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2016.07.005 Get rights and content Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance Hidden in the documents of the dark past of the trans-Atlantic slavery are gems of ethnomedicinal observations, supported by herbarium specimens, which tell of the traditional medicine of a by-gone slave society in the Caribbean. In the context of the former Danish West Indies (now US Virgin Islands), we identify pre-1900 medicinal plants and their historical uses, and trace their status in the traditional medicine of St. Croix today (2014). By a combined historical and ethnobotanical approach we assess the scale of loss and preservation of traditional medicinal knowledge on St. Croix, and explore the drivers involved in the disappearance of knowledge in the oral tradition of medicine. Materials and methods Names, uses and identities of 18th and 19th century medicinal plant uses in the Danish West Indies were derived from manuscripts and publications of Von Rohr (1757/58), Oldendorp (1777), West (1793), Benzon (1822), Riise (1853), Eggers, 1876, Eggers, 1879 and Berg and Eggers (1888). The presence of the plant species in the pre-1900 Danish West Indies was confirmed by review of herbarium specimens in the University of Copenhagen Herbarium (C). The same species were collected on St. Croix in 2014 or their ecological status discussed with local specialists. Semi-structured interviews supported by photographs and specimens were conducted with six medicinal plant specialist on St. Croix, to document and compare contemporary names and uses of the historically used medicinal plants. Results and discussion The historic ethnomedicinal sources revealed 102 medicinal uses of 64 plant species. Thirty-eight (37%) of the pre-1900 medicinal uses were traced in interviews, while sixty-four uses (63%) appear to be forgotten, discontinued or otherwise lost. Thirteen species appear to have entirely lost their status as medicinal plants on St. Croix, while 32 species (50%) have lost uses while retaining or gaining others. While 20% of the lost medicinal plant uses can be explained by biodiversity loss, and others likely have become obsolete due to advances in public health and scientific medicine, 33 of the 64 lost medicinal uses of non-rare species uses fall in the same categories as the preserved uses (fever, stomach, wound, laxative, pulmonary, intestinal, pain, anthelmintic, blood purifier, eye-inflammation). We therefore argue that at least half of the known pre-1900 medicinal plant uses have become culturally extinct for other reasons than to biodiversity loss or modern obsoleteness. Conclusions The present study utilized knowledge from an oral medicinal tradition, documented in the context of a colonial society. Without doubt, basis for further similar studies exists in the more or less accessible archives, herbaria and collections of former colonial powers. Such studies could directly benefit the descendants of the original intellectual property holders culturally and economically, or serve as stepping stones to integrate, or re-integrate, lost medicinal plant uses in both local and wider evidence-based contexts. Graphical abstract fx1 Download high-res image (232KB)Download full-size image Keywords Historical materia medica Ethnopharmacology Danish West Indies US Virgin Islands Slavery 1. Introduction The number of herbs that can be used for the restoration of health is incontestably quite considerable in these islands. Among the islands’ inhabitants, the Negroes seem to have the most extensive knowledge about the healing powers of these plants. Even European physicians do not hesitate to learn as much as they can from them and then make use of that knowledge, in return for remuneration (Oldendorp, 1777). While slave trade and slavery constitute a dark chapter in the history of human interactions between Europe, West Africa and the Caribbean, valuable information of traditional medicinal plants exists as hidden gems dispersed among colonial documents. On the former Danish Virgin Islands, as elsewhere in the Caribbean, a white Euro-Caribbean class ruled for centuries a black slave society. Though documents show that the ruling class possessed a general self-proclaimed (racial) superiority, there are also passages which demonstrate their intellectual esteem for the blacks’ knowledge of the healing powers of plants (and dreaded plant poisons). In some cases, specifics of this ethnomedicinal knowledge, otherwise borne entirely in an oral tradition carried from Africa and adapted to the Caribbean environment, found way into the manuscripts of doctors, missionaries and botanists. More often than not, the written languages of these European observers, e.g. Danish, German and Latin, are obscure and the documents inaccessible to the descendants of the original intellectual property holders, present on the islands today. The US Virgin Islands, formerly the Danish Virgin Islands or Danish West Indies, is a tropical island group in the northern Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea (Fig. 1). The main islands comprise St. Thomas, St. John, Water Island (since 1996), and St. Croix. The latter is situated 64 km (40 miles) south of the others, and was the landing point of Christopher Columbus’ second voyage to the Americas and the site of the explorers’ hostile encounter with indigenous “Island Caribs” in 1493 (Wilson, 1997). Fig. 1 Download high-res image (693KB)Download full-size image Fig. 1. Historical map (1872) of Puerto Rico and the Virgin islands. The pre-Columbian inhabitants of Virgin Islands had largely migrated or succumbed to disease, slavery and genocide before the French possession of St. Croix in 1650 and the Danish colonisation of St. Thomas in 1672 and in St. John in 1718. In 1733 the Danish West India Guinea Company bought St. Croix from the French. Hereafter the three islands were under almost continuous Danish rule, until they were purchased by the United Stated in 1917 (Dookhan, 1974). The Danes were in it for the profitable colonial goods. Reaching its peak production in 1812, the island of St. Croix had become fourth largest sugar producer in the world (Tyson and Olsen, 2012). The island of St. Thomas profited mainly from international free trade in the natural harbour of Charlotte Amalia, while St. John produced at various times a mix of sugar, coffee and distilled oil from leaves and fruits of the West Indian Bay tree (Pimenta racemosa (Mill.) J.W. Moore), for the production of the popular Bay Rum cologne. The economy of the Danish Virgin Islands relied heavily on import of mainly West African slaves. The slave trade to and through the islands comprised both private and international trade as well as direct national trade from the Danish fortresses on the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana). Arriving slaves were sold at the public slave markets, shipped to other Caribbean islands, or forced to labour in the Virgin Islands’ households, industries and plantations. The ethnic makeup under the Danish rule consisted of mainly African and Afro-Caribbean slaves of West African origin, some Euro-Caribbeans and a few free Afro-Caribbeans. Despite over-mortality, the slave population increased through most of the colonial rule, fuelled by import from Africa. The slave population peaked at 36.000 around the time of the Danish ban of international slave trade in 1803. For much of the period, the quantitative relationship between Euro-Caribbeans or blancs (whites) and enslaved negroes (blacks) was around 1:10. (Hall, 1992). With the re-supply of slaves from Africa being cut-off in 1803, slave owners were motivated to preserve the health and life of their valuable enslaved workforce, at least to a greater degree than before (Thode Jensen, 2012). Slavery was finally abolished in the Danish Virgin Islands in 1848, by the demand of eight thousand slaves before the gates of Fort Frederik. However, abolition for many former slaves resulted in even lower living standards, low wages and deteriorating health care. Economic decline of the islands continued well into the 20th century. Although the islands were purchased by the US in 1917 mainly for strategic military purposes, the US Navy administrators also oversaw social reforms, reorganized hospitals and implemented vaccination programs (Dookhan, 1974). Today, St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix has the status of an organized, unincorporated territory of the USA. Residents are US citizens. The population was estimated to be 103.504 people in 2015. Ethnicities are grouped as 76.0% Black, 15.6% White, 1.4% Asian and 2.1% mixed/other, by a 2010 estimate. The primary economic activity is tourism, trade and other services, and some rum distillation. Economically, agriculture is almost neglectable, and most food products are imported (CIA – World Factbook, 2015). The US Virgin Islands today have a well-established healthcare system of modern hospitals, trained doctors and therapists, complemented to some extent by folk remedies and the rare specialised traditional herbalist, known as bush doctors or weedwomen. 1.1. European medicine in the Danish Virgin Islands For the larger part of the history of the Danish Caribbean colony, formal medical treatment was governed by the concept of humoral pathology, in which it was believed that disease was caused by imbalance of the four humours (blood, phlegm, yellow and dark bile) and exposure to ‘bad air’ (Thode Jensen, 2012). Treatments included change of environment and diet and blood-letting, as well as treatment with medicines in the various forms, preparations and composition particularized in the Danish Pharmacopeias. Educated medics were mostly military surgeons, private state-authorised physicians, royal midwives and apothecaries (Thode Jensen, 2012). The first public apothecary was established in St. Croix in 1827, followed by an apothecary in St. Thomas in 1838 (Fig. 2). In 1840 the public apothecaries received a monopoly on drug-dispensation (Griffenhagen, 1996). The first medicine tariff, which royally decreed which drugs had to be found in the Danish West Indian apothecaries, and their prices, comprised 471 crude and refined drugs and preparations (Taxt, 1840). Roughly analogous to the medicine tariffs in Denmark and Europe at the time, around half of the drugs and preparations were of plant origin. The 1840 Danish West Indian Tariff comprised herbal waters (4), berries (3), balsams (5), bark (16), decoctions (3), plasters (3), extracts (10), flowers (6), leaves (2), rubbers and resin (19), herbs (26), wood (4), nuts (2), oils (26), roots (36), seeds (16), syrups (7), tinctures (30) and miscellaneous plant parts and preparations (42). The tariff included powerful drugs such as opium preparations and morphine, strychnine, Digitalis-tincture and Chincona-bark preparations. At the beginning of the 19th century, Euro-Caribbean medical practise saw rapid improvements, driven from Europe by advances in anatomical pathology and the discovery of new drugs and treatments. Fig. 2 Download high-res image (543KB)Download full-size image Fig. 2. Depiction of the apothecary in Charlotte Amalia, St. Thomas, around 1850. 1.2. Medicine of the enslaved in the Danish Virgin Islands The formal health service towards the enslaved workers of the Virgin Islands, whether motivated by humanistic or purely economic reasons, was rooted in the European medicinal system, as practised by the private doctors contracted to the plantations, royal midwives and on the plantation hospitals (Thode Jensen, 2012). However, the enslaved had their own medicinal system, derived from the medical traditions of their African origin. The enslaved Africans held a magico-spiritual perception of disease and health, complemented by extensive herbalism. Spiritual healing and rituals, called Obeah, had to be practised secretly, as the whites considered it dangerous, uncontrollable, and faced practitioners with severe punishment (Thode Jensen, 2012). Nonetheless, the blacks’ knowledge of healing properties of plants was both recognised and esteemed. In a medical report the Danish general physician writes: “In the countryside you occasionally see old African Negroes [who] know herbs by which they can heal wounds whereupon the doctor has tried all his art in vain.” (Medicinalberetning, 1844). Another astonishing example is an anecdote by school teacher Hans West relating to Anthurium crenatum: “A man known to me on St. Thomas was fiercely sick with asthma, and since he had in vain used all the doctors’ medicines, he was finally persuaded by an old negroess to drink the decoct of this plants root. He tried the cure; it relieved his chest, the breathing became lighter and in few days the man was healed”. Evidently, slave owners faced a dilemma: on one hand forbidding religious and magical rituals, and on the other hand to permit or even encourage the use of efficient medicinal plants. 1.3. Eighteenth and nineteenth century ethnomedicinal sources The Herbarium of University of Copenhagen holds considerable collections from the Virgin Islands, collected between 1757 and 1917 by more than 18 professional and amateur botanists (Kiærskou, 1900). Unfortunately, as no study in this period was directly dedicated to the ethnobotany of the islands’ inhabitants, the recorded knowledge of the medicinal plants of Danish Virgin Islands has been accumulated by chance rather than organized effort. Nonetheless, a number of documents contain ethnobotanical observations, namely in chronological order; a publication on the history of the Evangelist mission on St. Croix by missionary Christian Georg Andreas Oldendorp (1777); a publication by school teacher West (1793) describing life and environment in St. Croix; a treatise on the West Indian salep by apothecary P.E. Benzon (1822); a pharmacognostic paper by apothecary Albert Heinrich Riise (1853); a published flora of St. Croix by army captain Heinrich Franz Alexander Baron Von Eggers (Danish edition in 1876, English version in 1879); an unpublished manuscript or notebook on the natural history of St Croix by surveyor Julius Philip Benjamin von Rohr (1757/58); and an unpublished manuscript on the tree species of Danish Virgin Islands by engineer Carl Berg and Eggers (1888). Together these documents reveal a great number of ethnomedicinal knowledge which forms the foundation of the present study. 1.4. Twentieth century ethnomedicinal sources The first American works on the flora of the US Virgin Islands (Millspaugh, 1902, Britton, 1918) did not include new documentations of medicinal plant uses, at least until R.H. Woodsworth's paper on the economic plants of St. John Woodworth (1943), which describes 21 medicinal plant uses on St. John. A paper dedicated to the West Indian Weedwoman, or herbalist, of the US Virgin Islands (Oakes and Morris, 1958) describes 59 medicinal plants uses, or ‘home remedies’, which the authors learned mainly from weed women on St. Croix, while researching the poisonous and injurious plants of the islands (Oakes and Butcher, 1962). The latter also contains some references to medicinal plant uses. “The West Indian Weedwoman” is to our knowledge the only publication describing in some detail the practise of the weedwoman of the Virgin Islands, and her (or his) social position and relationship to customers. The unique paper however also predicts the weed woman's demise: “In the past she has made valuable contributions to her society but will continue to do so only in areas where the physician is unavailable. As for the United States Virgin Islands, she has almost completed her mission.” (Oakes and Morris, 1958). Another unique 20th century record is the accounts of herbalist Petersen in her book on the herbs and proverbs of the Virgin Islands (1974). Petersen duly references Von Eggers’ flora from 1879, Oakes and Morris’ paper and an unpublished report from 1963 by Alphonso Nelthropp (which lists 46 medicinal plants), but lists in her book a grand total of more than 150 medicinal plants and their uses (although a few of the scientific classifications are unclear). Petersen furthermore describes in detail specific medicinal practises, such as the bush-bath, as well as spiritual or folkloristic perspectives on health and healing. In the foreword to the book, the governor of St. Thomas commends Mrs. Petersen for “capturing and compiling for future generations this portion of Virgin Islands culture before it slips into oblivion and is lost to us forever.” In 1977, Ronald L. Kuby conducted a number of ethnomedicinal interviews on St. Croix and recorded more than 97 medicinal plant species and 182 distinct uses. Kuby noted a non-antagonistic co-existence between the practise of traditional medicine and scientific medicine, but also that the former was mainly only used for non-serious diseases (Kuby, 1979). The most recent contribution to the recorded ethnomedicinal knowledge of the US Virgin Islands is a book on 68 plant species and their medicinal uses, as reported by six residents from St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, published along with descriptions of morphology, distribution, their medicinal uses elsewhere, pharmacology and toxicology (Thomas, 1997). 1.5. Aim of study The present paper documents and reviews the scientific identities, medicinal uses and vernacular names of pre-1900 (Danish/US) Virgin Island medicinal plants, presented in English. By fieldwork and interviews we compare the historical medicinal uses and names of the species with those of today, to assess the scale of change or loss of traditional knowledge and species availability. We hope to draw attention the potential of the historical comparative ethnobotany approach to trace the intellectual history of medicinal plants, to identify possibly lost medicinal plant uses and to provide a starting point for an applicable re-integration of these plants in the herbal medicine of the US Virgin Islands, or in broader ethnopharmacological contexts. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Literature review A database of names and uses of historical medicinal plants was constructed from the observations recorded in publications and manuscripts of Europeans residing in the Danish Virgin Islands between 1757 and 1888. The identity of plant species was in most cases simply determined by the scientific name offered by the collector, or, in the case of Oldendorp, discerned from the vernacular names and plant descriptions. Well-founded suggestions for the identity of Oldendorp's plants were made by the late Mrs. Margaret Hayes in St. Croix and included in the English translation of the manuscript (Oldendorp, 1777 in: Highfield and Barac, 1987). Von Rohr's manuscript from 1757/58 featured genera and Latin diagnoses (Von Rohr, 1757/58), from which most species could be discerned. Species names were taxonomically updated using the theplantlist.org (2016). Plants were included in the database when fulfilling the following three criteria: (1) the species identity being possible and plausible, (2) the description of the use being clearly medicinal, (3) the description of the medicinal use did not raise doubt whether the plant was in actual use on the islands. 2.2. Herbarium review All the species that were established to be in medicinal use between 1757 and 1888 in the Danish Virgin Islands were sought in University of Copenhagen Herbarium (C), either to verify whether the species was present on the islands at the time, or to provide direct voucher material for the medicinal plant use. 2.3. Field study area and plant collection To assess the plants’ modern availability and to serve as ethnobotanical voucher material, botanical specimens of the historically used medicinal plants were collected on St. Croix and St. Thomas in October and November 2014. Specimens were collected in doublets and deposited at the Estate St. George Botanical Garden Herbarium in St. Croix and in University of Copenhagen Herbarium (C). Collections were done by the main author (voucher numbers JS-6xx), in cooperation with Olasee Davis of the University of the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service and herbalist Veronica Gordon. Collection, research and export was authorised by Department of Planning and Natural Resources Division of Fish and Wildlife (permit no. DFW14071X). 2.4. Interviews The aim of the interviews was to document any contemporary names and uses of the historically used medicinal plants, in St. Croix. Six respondents, considered by their peers to be among the most medicinal plant-knowledgeable persons living on St. Croix, were interviewed in November 2014. The respondents were, in order of age: (1) Otto Tranberg, born 1918 on St. Croix, retired, descended from several generations of Crucians; (2) Tomasita Velasquez, born on Vieques in 1938, retired, living on St. Croix since 1958; (3) Bent Lavaetz, born 1939 on St. Croix, retired, horticulturist and former senator, descended from Danes, grandfather moved to St. Croix in 1891; (4) Veronica M. Gordon, born 1948 on St. Croix, passed away in March 2016, professional bush doctor/herbalist, descended from several generations of bush doctors on St Croix, who transferred their knowledge from mother to son to granddaughter, etc. NB: Veronica Gordon also assisted the plant collection of the present study; (5) Olasee Davis, Assistant Professor/Extension Specialist Natural Resources and ethnobotanist, born 1958 on St. Thomas, taught by grandmother and grandfather from Tortola and St. John. NB: Olasee Davis also formed part of the research group of the present study and assisted in plant collection; (6) Rudy G. O’Reilly, born 1965 on Puerto Rico, conservationist, descended from several generations of Crucians, self-taught and by family members. All respondents gave oral or written consent to the subsequent use of their names and given information within the frame of the research project and in scientific publication. Interviews were semi-structured and conducted in English. Photos of the 64 historical medicinal plants taken in situ, or in a few cases downloaded from the Internet, were inserted in a notebook, on separate pages and in random order. The photos were fixed on left-hand pages, upside-down, and notes taken on the right-hand side by the interviewer (Jens Soelberg) sitting across from the interviewee. The interview notebook is deposited at the Museum of Natural Medicine of University of Copenhagen. Using the photos as reference, respondents were asked to name each plant and detail its medicinal use(s), if any. Respondents were informed that all the plants had been used medicinally at some point during the so-called Danish times, and that the scope of the project was to trace these uses today, but were not informed any details of the historical use. 3. Results and discussion From the manuscripts and publications of Von Rohr (11 observations), Oldendorp (27 obs.), West (20 obs.), Riise (8 obs.), Benzon (1), Eggers (36 obs.) and Berg and Eggers (11 obs.) it was possible to establish scientific identities of 64 species of plants and 102 pre-1900 medicinal uses thereof, listed in Table 1. Table 1. Pre-1900 Danish Virgin Islands medicinal plant species and their uses pre-1900, 20th century and present (2014). Species Family JS# Pre-1900 uses 20th century use Contemp. use (2014) Lost use (s) Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench Malvaceae 628 The slime is extracted with cold water and used in eye inflammation, [2] cracked warts, etc. (Riise, 1853). An infusion of the fruit is used for inflammation in the eyes; [3] an infusion of the fruit is used for […] measles (Eggers, 1876). Leaves in tea used to wash inflamed eyes. Leaf in tea drunk to induce cooling (Kuby, 1979). Leaves: steeped in water, drunk for cold. Fruit: in food or in a drink is ingested in the 8th month of pregnancy to ease delivery; same drink is good for hair, nails and bones. Eye inflammation; measles; cracked warts Abrus precatorius L. Fabaceae 628 The uncommonly sweet leaves […] are chewed […] to counter the effects of throat ailments (Oldendorp, 1777). The liquorice-leaves are drunk as tea for the chest; [2] and stomach as an excellent medicine (West, 1793). An infusion of the leaves and the top is commonly used on plantations for cold, pulmonary disease and other cases. […] the creoles prepare a pulmonary tonic (Riise, 1853). Coughs and colds (Oakes and Morris, 1958). The vine is used in cough syrup (Petersen, 1974). Cough medicine and colds (Kuby, 1979). Leaves: in tea or chewed for cold, phlegm and respiratory problems. Stomach Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f. Xanthorrhoeaceae 617 Thirty drops of its sap serve as a laxative; [2] A pill is made out of the dried substance is used to get rid of worms (Oldendorp, 1777). [3] The sap which from the slightest damage drips of this plants, is famous as a general wound healer; [2] the creoles use it for worms and; [4] pains in the stomach (West, 1793). [5] The leaves are eaten raw as a remedy for breast disease (Eggers, 1876). Colds, sores (Oakes and Morris, 1958). Used for colds. Abscesses and wrinkles (Petersen, 1974). Cuts, burns, cooling, expectorant (cough) (Kuby, 1979). Leaves/gel for burns, cuts, sores, colds, cuts, intestinal worms (Thomas, 1997). Leaves: externally used on cuts, bruises, sunburn, skin diseases and as aftershave; internally used, either in infusion or eaten raw, for colds, phlegm, inflammation, as diuretic; purgative; stomach trouble and general inflammation; sliced, washed, steeped in orange juice and drunk for constipation; chewed to clean gums. Various spiritual uses. Anthelmintic Anacardium occidentale L. Anacardiaceae 624 The drink prepared from the cashew strengthens weak bowels; [2] A couple of the fruit can be eaten each morning for consumption; [3] Its leaves, boiled with bark from the same tree, provide a healthful drink which is useful against red dysentery (Oldendorp, 1777). The astringent fruit is considered very good for a weakened stomach (West, 1793). Leaves: boiled in water, drunk for stomach ache. Fruit: eaten for stomach ache; squeezed on wounds. Seed: internally for post-natal cleansing or “expelling”. Tuberculosis; intestinal Annona muricata L. Annonaceae 601 They [the fruit] are […] eaten on an empty stomach as a remedy for a slow fever (Oldendorp, 1777). [2] Leaves in decoction for fever (Eggers, 1876). The fruit is very refreshing and is considered excellent in fever cases (Berg and Eggers, 1888). Colds, sedatives, cooling (Oakes and Morris, 1958). Leaves are used as a sedative, keep the nerves calm, and induce restful sleep (Petersen, 1974). Leaves in tea for cooling, tension and to induce sleep. Leaves placed in bed for “pains”. Odd number of leaves for tea and bath after childbirth to rejuvenate (Kuby, 1979). Leaves externally for headache; in bath after childbirth; leaves in bed for pain; leaves internally in tea for “cooling” sedative; fever and gas pains; respiratory problems of colds and flus. Fruit for bedwetting and as cooling tea (Thomas, 1997). Leaves: in tea drunk for to induce sleep, for headache, fever, cold, flu, to calm stomach. Stuffed in bedding or inside clothes of fever patients; in bush-bath for flu. Fruit: pulp stimulates lactation, central column given to bed-wetting children; when made to a drink a “cure-all”. Anthurium crenatum Kunth Araceae 666 A man known to me on St. Thomas was fiercely sick with asthma, and since he had in vain used all the doctors’ medicines, he was finally persuaded by an old negroess to drink the decoct of this plants root. He tried the cure; it relieved his chest, the breathing became lighter and in few days the man was healed (West, 1793). Leaf: heated, wrapped on swollen feet Asthma (NB: A. crenatum is rare on St. Croix, but present in on St. Thomas) Argemone mexicana L. Papaveraceae 678 [The seeds] are frequently used by Negroes as laxatives or emetics. The usual dose is approximately one thimble full; [2] The warm drink that is derived from the steeped leaves […] constipates; [3] [the leaves] are […] useful in the treatment of external injuries (Oldendorp, 1777). [3] The sap from this plant, squeezed out on wounds (West, 1793). [3] The leaves are use as poultice; [4] The latex mixed with milk as a remedy for asthma (Eggers, 1876). Colds, pneumonia (Oakes and Morris, 1958). Leaves in tea for [blood? ] pressure. Sap on burns and oral inflammation (Kuby, 1979). Leaves internally in tea for colds; high blood pressure. Sap externally for burns and oral inflammation (Thomas, 1997). Herb/leaves: in tea for bowel problems, stomach problems, diarrhoea, liver, gall bladder; recovering from alcoholism. Laxative; asthma; wound Asclepias curassavica L. Apocyanaceae 632 The milky-white juice, prepared with syrup, kills and expels worms; [2] Others use the pulverized root to vomit (von Rohr, 1757/58). [2] Its root can be used as an emetic or [3] laxative (Oldendorp, 1777). [2] The root is used as a vomitive (Eggers, 1876). Is made into a poultice for ringworms and baths. Root used as an emetic (Petersen, 1974). Root as antidote for fish poisoning and emetic; sap externally on ring worms; internally as purgative (Thomas, 1997). Leaves: in milk tea as vomitive. Sap: in Vaseline on ringworms. Used for various undefined skin conditions. Spiritual uses. Anthelmintic; laxative Canella winterana (L.) Gaertn. Canellaceae 645 [The bark] in rum as a stomach strengthening remedy (Oldendorp, 1777). [2] The bark has some of the aroma of the cinnamon and some of the heat of pepper; and is therefore used by negroes to hot bath for rheumatism; [3] It is extracted with rum and used for [3] colds, [1] colic, and other infirmities (West, 1793). [2] The leaves are used in hot baths for arthritis [rheumatism] (Eggers, 1876). The bark combined with lime leaves and a bit of ginger, made into a concoction is helpful in stimulating the appetite after illness. The leaves and bark combined with other bushes is splendid for the bush-bath. [Canella alba, called, “white bark”]; Leaves used in bath for rheumatism. Bark combined with snake root, maubi bark steeped in rum, used as a tonic. An infusion made for fish poison (Petersen, 1974). Bark boiled and drunk to treat diabetes (Kuby, 1979). Leaves in stimulating bath after childbirth and for invalids (Thomas, 1997). Leaves: in tea and bush-bath for recovery after sickness; and in tea for cold. Stomach; rheumatism Cassia fistula L. N/A [The seeds] serving as a mild laxative (Oldendorp, 1777). Fruit or fruit pulp: various preparations (e.g. steeped in cold water), drunk as laxative. Cassia grandis L.f. Fabaceae 647 The pulp of the fruit […] is used in decoction for cold (Eggers, 1876). Seed pods […] eaten as is, or boiled until made into a syrup, for coughs (Petersen, 1974). Cold Chiococca alba (L.) Hitchc. Rubiaceae 631 It is an incomparable dissolving agent [laxative]; [2] The Negroes cure themselves with it, when the by the mistake of dear Venus have been given to much credit [aphrodisiac] (von Rohr, 1757/58). Root; in fermented drink as aphrodisiac, good for erectile dysfunction, to “stimulate oestrogen” and relieve high blood pressure. Two respondents claim that the use (but not the plant) is newly [re-]introduced from other Caribbean islands. Laxative Cissampelos pareira L. Menispermaceae 630 It is a well-known diuretic remedy (von Rohr, 1757/58). The leaves and stems of this vine steeped in boiling water and taken as a tisane is a cooling for inflammation (Petersen, 1974). Lead/stem in infusion for “cooling” inflammation (Thomas, 1997). diuretic Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck Rutaceae N/A The leaves mixed with the leaves of the soursop-tree, on which is poured boiling water, is much used by the natives for fever (Berg and Eggers, 1888). Leaves are boiled to make tea for an upset stomach. Cut limes rubbed over your body if you are tired, before taking a bath, leave you feeling very refreshed, after the bath (Petersen, 1974). Leaves in tea for fever, and component in cough medicine (Kuby, 1979). Leaves; rubbed on head for headache. Fruit: whole fruit blended, drunk for cold, fever. Fruit skin: in preparation with sour-sop leaves [Annona muricata] for “head cold” with fever, releases mucus. Cleome gynandra L. Cleomaceae 636 The doctors here use it for stomach pains (von Rohr, 1757/58). The natives and the negroes likes to eat this weed, stewed like spinach; it is by its fine bitterness regarded healthy (West, 1793). Herb: in bush-bath for rashes. Stomach Clusia rosea Jacq. Clusiaceae 603 The bark, which contains a very sticky resin, is used by negroes in the countryside, for soil fleas (chigger), by opening the wound and pressing small lumps of the resin into it; some days later they are taken out, and the capsule with the spawn of the so-called chigger follows along; this may sometimes however leave deep holes in the feet (Berg and Eggers, 1888). Chigger removal Cocos nucifera L. Arecaceae N/A It also provides good protection against diarrhoea. It causes a gradual constipation and heals at the same time (Oldendorp, 1777). Considered healthy and useful in diarrhoea. Colubrina elliptica (Sw.) Brizicky & W. L. Stern Rhamnaceae 664 From the leaves of the plant is made a stomach-strengthening drink (Mabee) (Eggers, 1876). The bark is used for a very refreshing [or soothing] drink, generally popular and considered very healthy (Berg and Eggers, 1888). An infusion is made and drunk for fish poison. Leaves made into a concoction taken for pain in the belly (Petersen, 1974). Leaves internally for gumboils; stomach-ache. Bark internally as tonic; cooling tea. Infusion for poisoning; decoction for stomach-ache; diabetes; liver problems; itching associated with fish poisoning (Thomas, 1997). Bark: in the fermented drink “mabee”, good for digestion, stomach, high blood pressure, diabetes, fish poisoning and as male stimulant; steeped in water, drunk for fish poisoning and externally to infants with pimples/pregnant women with pimples (uncertain to which). Commelina diffusa Burm.f. Commelinaceae 643 The liquid found in the sheath leaves is regarded as a good remedy for eye inflammation (Eggers, 1876). Herb/leaves: in tea for cold; in tea for tumours. Eye inflammation Crescentia cujete L. Bignoniaceae 607 With skin burns, it is an effective remedy to apply the inner pulp of the calabash to the burned area every five to six hours; [2] [juice pressed from small gourds] is supposed to be an effective drink against consumption; [3] the juice oozing out from the roasted leaves of ground calabashes [same species? ] is applied to fresh wounds (Oldendorp, 1777). [4] In Curacua is prepared a syrup, from the oil of the boiled seeds, which in West India is used for long-lasting pulmonary disease (Riise, 1853). [4] From the unripe fruit is made a syrup for cough (Eggers, 1876). [4] The inner part of the fruit, which is sour, is used in pulmonary diseases (Berg and Eggers, 1888). Leaves used as a blister. Inside or guts of the fruit is put in a syrup made for asthma (Petersen, 1974). Fruit pulp: externally applied to athletes foot; internally fresh or in preparation for intestinal parasites, worm, blood cloths, excess mucus, “blood cleansing”, asthma, stomach ache, to induce labour and expel afterbirth; ingredient in cough syrup. Leaves: in tea for insomnia and in bush-bath for spiritual reasons. Burn; wound; tuberculosis Croton sp. (with clear sap); e.g. Croton astroites Aiton Euphorbiaceae 625 The leaves, which are boiled, are often used by negroes as a blood purifying remedy (Berg and Eggers, 1888). Bladder trouble, muscular strains (Oakes and Morris, 1958). [Croton discolor] The leaves combined with chick-weed and yellow pitch pine were used for weak back (Petersen, 1974). Leaves in tea for gonorrhoea (Kuby, 1979). Blood purifier Croton sp. (with yellow sap); e.g. Croton flavens L. Euphorbiaceae 662 [About resin]; People and doctors here call it balsam copaiva [and thus probably used it medicinally and internally] (von Rohr, 1757/58). It is excellent for the treatment of fresh wounds; [2] as a palliative against colic and [3] internal injuries (Oldendorp, 1777). Leaf: in tea is good for the heart and for stomach trouble. Sap: applied to wasp stings. Stem: used as toothbrush. Wound; internal injury Erythrina corallodendron L. Fabaceae 670 Grows in St. Thomas. […] rarely has the stem any bark, perhaps because the negroes use the bark for healing (West, 1793). Unknown Exostema caribaeum (Jacq.) Schult. Rubiaceae 671 By some negroes called torch-wood, although there is exists another plant by that name. It is the species of fever bark-tree which grows in on the West Indian islands. The efficacy of the bark is by some, and recently by prof. Vahl in Society of Natural History’s journal, mentioned to be very beneficial. [West send home material and writes that “ doctors found the effect unmistakable in experiments”] (West, 1793). Leaves and bark is used for fever, colds and for fish poison. It also improves appetite (Petersen, 1974). Fever Gossypium sp. (cfr. G. barbadense) 611 The juice extracted from the finer cotton leaves is also an established antidote against the poison of the cassava milk (Oldendorp, 1777). The leaves are steeped in boiling water and taken for cooling. The root and bark are boiled for a sitz-bath to shrink haemorrhoids. Also used for constriction of the ovaries and for washing sores (Petersen, 1974). The leaves in tea for “cooling” when blood is “hot” (Kuby, 1979). Leaves externally in decoction/wash for congested breasts after childbirth; in sitz-bath for wounds; sores; leaves internally as “cooling” tea; vaginal itch. Root/bark in sitz-bath for haemorrhoids. Green fruit juice for swimmer’s ear (Thomas, 1997). Leaves: in hot water for stomach problems, constipation, in decoction internal and external as cooling agent. Wrapped with lard on swollen legs of pregnant women. Antidote Gouania lupuloides (L.) Urb. Rhamnaceae 652 Used by the negroes as tooth-brushes (Berg and Eggers, 1888). Stem for [blood? ] pressure and to “clean you out” (Kuby, 1979). Stem ground in water as antiseptic mouthwash (Thomas, 1997). Root (and stem): steeped in water or decoction, drunk for high blood pressure; pounded and sap applied to athlete’s foot; ingredient in stomach-strengthening fermented drink mabee; as a cleansing chew stick. Guaiacum officinale L. Zygophyllaceae 677 Its bark can also be used in the brewing of a beer, that serves well in cleansing the blood; [2] [the tree yields an aromatic resin] which, when dissolved in brandy, provides a balsam for both external and internal uses (Oldendorp, 1777). Bark mixed with torch [Exostema caribaeum? ] and maubee bark, boiled and drank for fish poison. Leaves and flowers are made into a concoction for the restoration of energy (Petersen, 1974). Abortifacient (Kuby, 1979). Leaves in tonic; infusion for colds. Bark in decoction for colds and fish poisoning. Flowers in poultice for rheumatism, and in decoction for asthma and diabetes; biliousness. Wood as abortifacient; emmenagogue. Resin in rum externally on cuts and bruises; gout; rheumatism; skin diseases (Thomas, 1997). Leaves: in tea for cold and for fish poisoning. Bark: tea for fish poisoning. Bark and root: decoction drunk for erectile dysfunction. Resin: boiled, for girls with first menstruation. Blood purifier; unknown internal and external uses Hibiscus tilliaceus L. Malvaceae 642 Leaves applied to head or back is assumed to drive away pain (Eggers, 1876). Bark: in tea for diarrhoea. Pain Jatropha curcas L. Euphorbiaceae 648 The seed here-from is so drastically laxating, that it is considered lethal (West, 1793). The seed oil is used in the West Indies as a drastic purgative (Riise, 1853). The leaves are used in decoction as purgative. The seeds, especially the seed pod, are very drastic (Eggers, 1876). Tisane soothing for stomach ulcers, helpful to prevent bed-wetting (Petersen, 1974). Boiled and drunk against worms causing vomiting (Kuby, 1979). Leaves: in tea for constipation and intestinal parasites. Seeds and leaves: pounded, boiled into an ointment for skin cancer. Jatropha multifida L. Euphorbiaceae 649 The fresh leaves are recommended as an antidote to the sap of the Mancinella-tree (Riise, 1853). Antidote Justicia pectoralis Jacq. Acanthaceae 637 The squeezed-out sap is used as a remedy for pulmonary disease; [2] The leaves heal wounds (West, 1793). The plant is boiled with syrup and used as a breast tonic (Eggers, 1876). Used as tea for colds [along with other ingredients] (Petersen, 1974). Leaves pulverized and applied to cuts. Leaves component in cough syrup and bush-bath (Kuby, 1979). Leaves externally in bush-bath; cuts; internally as sedative for mild nervous disorders; coughs; colds (Thomas, 1997). Herb: in tea for cold, fever, cough; cooling, reproductive system, menstruation. Wound Kallstroemia maxima (L.) Hook. & Arn. Zygophyllaceae N/A The whole plant is used in warm bath for boils and rashes in children (Eggers, 1876). Whole plant is used in baths against boils (Petersen, 1974). Skin irritation Manilkara zapota (L.) P. Royen Sapotaceae 606 Decoction of the seeds make a very efficient remedy for strictur [an abnormal narrowing of a bodily passage, e.g. caused by inflammation cancer, or the formation of scar tissue] (Berg and Eggers, 1888). The leaves, combined with the leaves of the sugar apple and stinging nettle are made into an infusion of expelling worms in children (Petersen, 1974). Bark: in tea for diarrhoea. Leaves: in tea for cold. Stricture Maranta arundinacea L. Maranthaceae N/A [The starch produced from the tuber] has been praised as an effective remedy in catarrh-related disease, diarrhoea, dysentery and anywhere in diseases where mucilaginous remedies would be applied (Benzon, 1822). Used for salep (Eggers, 1876). Dried roots or tubers are pounded to a powder and made into an infusion. The liquid is used internally for diarrhoea. Helpful to teething infants (Petersen, 1974). Intestinal Morinda citrifolia L. Rubiaceae 622 The leaves are laid on the forehead for head ache (Eggers, 1876). Heart trouble (Oakes and Morris, 1958). Leaves are crushed or bruised, heated, rubbed with soft candle or barrel lard and placed on pained or swollen areas. Also for heart trouble (Petersen, 1974). Leaves rubbed, heated, applied with oil or Vaseline to any painful part of the body (Kuby, 1979). Unspecified part for heart trouble. Leaves, as heated poultice or bruised, externally for pain of arthritis; burns; gastritis; headaches; heart troubles; machete wounds; neuralgia; rheumatism; strains and swelling (Thomas, 1997). Fruit: fresh or, more often, chopped fruit allowed to ferment in water, externally on athlete’s foot; internally for stomach problems, circulation, high blood pressure, immune system, etc. Leaves: fresh or heated over fire, with or without lard, Vaseline or oil, applied to painful areas, cuts, contusions, joint pains, swellings; dried leaves in tea for energy. Seeds: pounded, steeped in water and drunk as laxative. Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC. Fabaceae 65 The stinging hairs of the pod was used as a remedy for worms in children (Eggers, 1876). Used for expelling worms (Petersen, 1974). Irritating hairs of ripe fruit: small amounts placed on arthritis-affected areas. Leaves: in tea to expel worms in children. Musa×paradisiaca L. Musaceae 614 […] The leaves are used among other things, by their juicy thickness to cool wounds and are applied as a cooling ointment after Spanish fly plaster (West, 1793). The leaves are applied after using Spanish fly, as the smooth side heals and the other keeps the wound open (Eggers, 1876). Banana peel is applied to bruises and “bad legs” (Kuby, 1979). Fruit: fresh for mouth sores. Fruit skin: boiled and drunk for internal parasites, worms. Leaves: used as plaster, to tie poultices or by itself on cuts, swellings, irritated or painful areas. Root: with avocado root and mahogany root in an abortifacient preparation. Nicotiana tabacum L. Solanaceae N/A Tobacco juice dripped in the nose is used as a vomitive; [2] leaves are tied to the neck for sores in the throat (Eggers, 1876). For any cut or sore, a leaf was tied on. Also toothache, swollen jaw, sprained ankle (Petersen, 1974). Expectorant. Leaves are tied around sprains (Kuby, 1979). Leaf: tied to painful areas together with lard or Vaseline. Vomitive Opuntia sp. Cactaceae 672 Pieces of stem is used as a cooling poultice […]; [2] and in infusion for dysentery (Eggers, 1876). […] for washing hair, for inflamed eyes, drunk as cooling draught for high blood pressure. […] ease tension. […] eases backache, or on the abdomen for inflammation. Stem in tea for stomach pain, to treat children's rashes. In water to wash cuts. In poultice to burst abscesses (Kuby, 1979). Succulent stem: poultice on callous skin, warts, prickly heat, to cool skin; as cooling tea. Intestinal Passiflora foetida L. Passifloraceae 650 [the fruit] supposedly good as a medicine for fever [note: the historical vernacular “beer apple”=”bell apple”, contemporary name for P. laurifolia; for which the use also match! ] (Oldendorp, 1777). P. foetida: It is considered a reliable remedy in calming nervous disorders. [P. laurifolia not P. foetida]; infusion for children with appetite loss due to worms. [Bell apple] used for impotence, medicinal baths, abortifacient (Kuby, 1979). [P. foetida] vine in tea for nervous disorders. [P. laurifolia]; leaves in infusion as appetite stimulant for children with worms. Fruit pulp internally for impotence (Thomas, 1997). Sheath around fruit/flower: in tea to grow hair. Flower: in tea for cold. Leaves: in tea for nervousness. (for bell apple (P. laurifolia): leaves steeped in water drunk for cold; in bush-bath for high fever; seeds eaten, good for stomach; fruit eaten or juiced, drunk for high blood pressure). Phyllanthus niruri L. Phyllanthaceae 604 The plant is used in decoction for fever (Eggers, 1876). […] Leaves steeped in boiling water make a mild laxative and improve appetite. Combined with lemon grass, ginger, orange peel, sweats out the flu (Petersen, 1974). Entire plant to restore appetite, treatment for colds and remedy for stomach aches (Kuby, 1979). Whole plant as appetite stimulant; laxative; cleansing tea; tonic; stomach ache; colds and flus; diabetes; fever including dengue and malaria; urinary problems (Thomas, 1997). Herb: in tea for diabetes, to increase appetite, high blood pressure, treatment for alcoholism, for colds and as expectorant; in preparation with orange, ginger, lemongrass, ginger and lime to induce perspiration in flu. Picrasma excelsa (Sw.) Planch. Simaroubaceae N/A The wood is used to turn cups, which deliver to the therein standing water a bitter taste consider strengthening to the stomach (Eggers, 1876). The wood and the bark is used in some [2] fever cases and stomach pains; in the cup which is produced thereof [the wood] one leaves water to stand a few minutes whereby the bitter taste is delivered to it (Berg and Eggers, 1888). Bark and wood used for stomach ache and fever due to colds (Petersen, 1974). Stomach; fever Piscidia piscipula (L.) Sarg. Fabaceae 627 The water in which such wood has been boiled can be used for the treatment of scratch wound and man and cattle (Oldendorp, 1777). To help cure bed-wetting and for washing sores (Petersen, 1974). Leaves: in various (medicinal) bush-baths. Fruit: in shark liver oil for cold. Wound Plantago major L. Plantaginaceae N/A The leaves are used in infusion for inflammation of the eyes (Eggers, 1876). Leaves: in tea for cancer and aids; heated over fire and tied with melted wax to knee pain. Sap: for eye problems. Pluchea odorata (L.) Cass. Asteraceae 602 It is used to control fever; it induces sweating [if this is indeed Oldendorp’s Statius tea] (Oldendorp, 1777). [2] The leaves are used in infusion for cough (Eggers, 1876). Leaves in tea for cold (Petersen, 1974). Leaves: in tea for cold, fever, migraine, flu, etc. Cough Plumbago zeylanica L. Plumbaginaceae 673 The negroes call this plant bran-bla because the leaves laid on the body has the same effect as Spanish fly plaster, but turns the skin black when they have drawn, which cannot be told on negroes (West, 1793). The leaves are used by the negroes as Spanish fly (Eggers, 1876). A poultice is made from the leaves and oil meal and applied warm to external ulcers (Petersen, 1974). The leaves are applied to blisters, supposedly facilitating the reabsorption of liquid into skin tissue (Kuby, 1979). Leaves externally for blisters, skin ulcers, and internally as emetic and purgative (Thomas, 1997). Leaves: pounded, applied with or without lard on blisters. Sticky part of plant (probably calyx): squeezed on wasp stings. Blister-drawer Plumeria alba L. Apocyanaceae 620 Contains a white milky sap which, when used with caution, can be very effective in treating fresh wounds (Oldendorp, 1777). Leaves: dried and smoked for asthma. Latex: mixed with Vaseline applied to ringworm. Flowers; in tea for cold; externally applied to painful areas. Wound Portulaca oleracea L. 644 Used by the Negroes as a medicinal remedy. A very bad hand-injury in which a piece of poison wood had become embedded, was cured in a short time, and the splinter extracted by means of the application of crushed purslane mixed with inselt [?] (Oldendorp, 1777). For washing the body for rashes or prickly heat. Also an infusion can be made to expel worms (Petersen, 1974). Stem externally for rashes and prickly heat; skin marks; internally to cleanse blood; intestinal worms (Thomas, 1997). Leaves/herb: in tea for high blood pressure, cooling, cold; as poultice on wounds, skin problems, etc. Seed: one seed in eye over night for cleaning the eyeball. Psidium guajava L. Myrtaceae 623 The leaves are used in infusion for diarrhoea, likewise the unripe fruit (Eggers, 1876). Leaves in tea for [blood? ] pressure. Juice from the fruit “heart” to treat headaches (Kuby, 1979). Leaves: in tea to stop diarrhoea and in diabetes treatment. Fruits eaten to stop diarrhoea. Half-ripe fruit in tea for cold. Root: decoction for constipation. Punica granatum L. Lythraceae 615 When the peel is removed, it takes on a dark colour. From them is prepared a healthful, astringent drink which is taken for dysentery (Oldendorp, 1777). The peel of the fruit is used in infusion for diarrhoea (Eggers, 1876). Leaves and blossom are made into a tea for dysentery. Seed of the fruit, too, is used for the same purpose. Infusion made from rind and bark is used as an injection for tapeworms (Petersen, 1974). Leaves in tea for high blood pressure, diabetes and as “blood purifier”. Seeds: eaten for intestinal parasites. Fruit skin: mixed with olive oil as lice remedy. Intestinal Rauvolfia viridis Willd. ex Roem. & Schult. Apocyanaceae 667 Used for colic and stomach pains (Berg and Eggers, 1888). Five or seven leaves are boiled and diluted or added to the drinking water for the new mother while lying-in (Petersen, 1974). Leaves in decoction assisting delivery of afterbirth; lactation; gastric distress; immune system disorders (Thomas, 1997). Stomach Ricinus communis L. Euphorbiaceae 663 A small teacup full of the liquid [seed oil] acts as a reliable laxative […]; [2] a small teacup full of the liquid [seed oil] […] for burns it is as good as tree oil (Oldendorp, 1777). The callapat-oil’s excellent and famous properties is to give a mild and cleansing opening (West, 1793). Since the slave emancipation, the production [in Puerto Rico] has declined and the oil difficult to procure. The brown variety is bought in the apothecary by plantation Negroes (Riise, 1853). Leaves are made into a tea for stomach ache, and fever. Also used as an analgesic poultice (Petersen, 1974). Leaves placed on body to treat fevers. Leaf heated and placed on cheek to alleviate toothache (Kuby, 1979). Leaves: bruised (and/or heated) externally on painful areas, on swollen face in mumps and as poultice for contusions. Oil: various external skin-related uses, plaster, poultice; internally as laxative. Leaf stem dipped in castor oil is inserted in rectum to relieve constipation. Ruellia tuberosa L. Acanthaceae 629 The Negroes use it for fever (von Rohr, 1757/58). For cold fevers, a tea made from the Ruellia-plant is imbibed (Oldendorp, 1777). The root is used by Negroes for fever (West, 1793). For pain in joints, and strained muscles. Pieces of root scraped and steeped in boiling water, drunk as a tisane (Petersen, 1974). Root in treatment for joint pains; nerves; strained muscles (Thomas, 1997). Root: pounded and boiled together with English plantain (Plantago sp.) and maiden apple (Momordica charantia), drunk for cancer. Fever Scoparia dulcis L. Plantaginaceae x Some drink the herb for pulmonary troubles (von Rohr, 1757/58). Unspecified uses (Thomas, 1997). Pulmonary troubles Senna occidentalis (L.) Link Fabaceae 639 The root used externally, it has been very successful here in toothache (von Rohr, 1757/58). [2] From its leaves a soothing laxative drink can be concocted (Oldendorp, 1777). The root of this plant is even used by doctors as a infallible remedy for [3] a stomach gone bad, either as tea, decoction or in rum, and despite the taste being hideous, it is nonetheless such a common folk remedy, that I am surprised it has not been introduced in our apothecaries (West, 1793). [4] The root is used in decoction for fever (Eggers, 1876). Constipation, invigorating baths, bed-wetting (Oakes and Morris, 1958). Root used in an infusion against fever. Leaves crushed and mixed with soft candle or lard, rubbed over the body to sweat out fever. Leaves also used for cleansing open sores. [Cassia occidentalis, “wild coffee”]; Used as a mild laxative, for weak bladder, and in the bush-bath (Petersen, 1974). Leaves externally for boils, prickly heat, fever and open sores; skin problems; internally in decoction for diarrhoea and stomach ache. Roots externally in infusion for fever; internally for colds, diarrhoea, stomach ache, cramps and flatulence. Seeds in tea mildly laxative (Thomas, 1997). Aerial parts of plant: boiled, let cool, drunk for stomach gas. Leaves: dried, steeped in boiling water for asthmatic children. Root: used in various (unknown) medicinal compositions. Seed: poisonous, used to make people vomit. Toothache; laxative; stomach; fever Solanum sp.; Solanum americanum Mill. Solanaceae 668 The fruit is used for oral candidiasis in children (Eggers, 1876). The fruit is used as a remedy for oral candidacies in children (Berg and Eggers, 1888). [Solanum nodiflorum] Leaves are washed and used to rub white coating from baby’s tongue for thrush. [Solanum torvum] For impaired vision and worms (Petersen, 1974). Leaves in treatment of thrush (Thomas, 1997). Oral candidiasis Spigelia anthelmia L. Loganiaceae 651 Good anthelmintic [but] has otherwise the effect of opii [opium] and is therefore not always safe to use (von Rohr, 1757/58). The most effective medicine for worms (Oldendorp, 1777). The infallible effect of this plant towards worms is famous, but it must be used with care not to cause damage to the patient’s eye sight (West, 1793). Tea used for intestinal parasites (Petersen, 1974). Whole plant in tea for intestinal worms (Thomas, 1997). Flower: sap squeezed in eye for eye disease. Herb: decoction for face wash. Anthelmintic Spondias mombin L. Anacardiaceae 616 The leaves are used in infusion for cough (Eggers, 1876). Green leaves chewed clear the throat of mucus. Used in bush-baths (Petersen, 1974). Component in cough medicine (Kuby, 1979). Leaves: chewed to tighten gums; in tea for cold, fever, and to tighten vagina (after child birth or in general); infusion to wash cuts and bruises. Fruit: half-ripe, eaten for sore throat. Sporobolus virginicus (L.) Kunth Poaceae 626 The whole plant is used in infusion as a drink for children during the teething period[…]; [2] the whole plant is used in warm bath for boils and rashes (Eggers, 1876). Herb: in bush-bath for flu. Teething; skin irritation Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl Verbenaceae 605 […] Drunk as a laxative and [2] blood-purifying tea; [3] it is particularly effective in coping with debilities brought about by creeping fever or bennekoorts, as it is called locally (Oldendorp, 1777). [3] The leaves are drunk in infusion for fever; [4] for animals is used a decoction of the whole plant as enema and to bathe tumours (Eggers, 1876). The leaves are made into a tea that is used to treat asthma, “clean the blood” and treat an “ulcerated stomach” (Kuby, 1979). Leaves externally in bath for rashes and prickly heat; internally for cooling tonic; blood cleanser; mild sedative; flatulence; headaches and intestinal worms; asthma; jaundice (Thomas, 1997). Herb: in tea for high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, cleaning blood, diuretic, stomach problems, joint pains, fevers and colds, and more; the same infusion externally to rinse hair and relieve rashes. Leaves: made to paste for rashes and discoloration of skin. Laxative; tumours Thespesia populnea (L.) Sol. ex Corrêa Malvaceae 612 The leaves are applied to head and back to drive away pain; [2] leaves in decoction for dropsy (Eggers, 1876). Used for milk abnormalities, tension and cooling of the blood (Petersen, 1974). Leaves in vermifuge for children (Kuby, 1979). Leaves: in tea for cold, cooling and diarrhoea; same infusion externally for acne and prickly heat in babies. Pain; dropsy Triumfetta semitriloba Jacq. Malvaceae 658 A good softening agent [laxative? ] (von Rohr, 1757/58). A resident German, Rohr, has advised many to use this plant for dysentery, and that it always works, when other remedies had failed (West, 1793). Intestinal Waltheria indica L. Malvaceae 610 A variety of mallow called English tea over there because the English make a warm drink from it, which they often use as an effective medicine (Oldendorp, 1777). The leaves are applied in poultice and in decoction for skin-irritation (Eggers, 1876). As a tea the dried leaves brewed very pleasant to the taste. It’s also used as a post-natal laxative and as a cooling after childbirth (Petersen, 1974). Leaves in tea to treat colds (Kuby, 1979). Leaves in tea; infusion with milk as purge after childbirth; sedative; cooling; painful menstruation (Thomas, 1997). Leaves or herb; in tea for cold and to stimulate lactation. Stem-bark: pounded and soaked in water applied to contusions. Skin irritation Zingiber officinale Roscoe Zingiberaceae 676 Strengthens the intestines, promotes digestion, and so forth (Oldendorp, 1777). Drunk dried in tea to strengthen the stomach (West, 1793). Tea [with other ingredients] for flu (Petersen, 1974). Root in tea for “colds” (Kuby, 1979). Rhizome: in various preparations for cold, cough, asthma, stomach problems, to relieve gas, digestion; chewed raw for motion sickness; in various preparation as male aphrodisiac. Specimens of all 64 species could be located in Herbarium of University of Copenhagen (C). From labels it was established that all the species were present in the Danish Virgin Islands in the 18th and 19th century. In many cases, the herbarium held a relevant specimen collected by the author of the ethnomedicinal observations, especially for Von Eggers, Von Rohr and West, but in no cases did label data carry any information to make the specimen useful as a direct ethnobotanical voucher. 3.1. Historical vs contemporary plant names Of 56 medicinally used species with names noted in the 18th and 19th century literature, interviews established that 39 of the vernacular names (70%) are in contemporary use. Substitution with other names was evident for 11 of the species (20%), while 6 of the species (11%) do not appear to have a vernacular name today. The historical and contemporary names are presented in Table 2. The species which appear to have lost their vernacular names, also appear to have lost their medicinal use, or vice versa. Table 2. Historical (Oldendorp, 1777, West, 1793, Riise, 1853, Eggers, 1876, Eggers, 1879, Von Rohr, 1757/58; Berg and Von Eggers, 1888) and contemporary (2014) names of pre-1900 Virgin Islands medicinal plants. Species Historical name Contemporary name (2014) Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench Okeo; ochro; ochra Okru; ochra Abrus precatorius L. Wild-liquorice; jumbee-beads Jumbee bead; liquorice vine Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f. Sempervive; sempervivie Sempervive; aloe Anacardium occidentale L. Cashew-tree Cashew Annona muricata L. Sour-sop Sour-sop; guanabana Anthurium crenatum Kunth – Argemone mexicana L. Thistle; the thistle Thistle; bull thistle; tissel Asclepias curassavica L. Wild ipecacuanha Kitty macwanii Canella winterana (L.) Gaertn. White bark Wild cinnamon; caneel Cassia fistula L. Canefister Golden shower; senna bush Cassia grandis L.f. Liquorice tree Liquorice tree Chiococca alba (L.) Hitchc. Kakanga root; kakonga root Cissampelos pareira L. – Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck Lime Lime Cleome gynandra L. Massambé Massambé Clusia rosea Jacq. Wild mamey; chigger apple Wild mamey; pitch apple; autograph tree Cocos nucifera L. Coconut Coconut Colubrina elliptica (Sw.) Brizicky & W. L. Stern Snake root; mabee Mabee Commelina diffusa Burm.f. French grass; shander Water grass Crescentia cujete L. Calabash tree; calabash Calabash; gobi Croton sp; Croton astroites Aiton Maran Maran; white maran Croton sp; cfr Croton flavens Maran; yellow maran Erythrina corallodendron L. Coral-tree; bois immortel Mortel; immortel; machete; cockspur Exostema caribaeum (Jacq.) Schult. Torch-wood Torch-wood Gossypium sp. Cotton Cotton Gouania lupuloides (L.) Urb. Soap-stick White root; chew stick Guaiacum officinale L. Lignum-vitae; pock-wood; iron-wood Hibiscus tilliaceus L. Mahoe Sea mahoe; mahoe Jatropha curcas L. French physic nut; physic nut; english physic nut; barbados nuts Physics nut Jatropha multifida L. French physic nut Justicia pectoralis Jacq. Rock balsam; pingwing balsam; cane-piece balsam Kallstroemia maxima (L.) Hook. & Arn. Centipee-root, or longlo Manilkara zapota (L.) P. Royen Mespel Mespel Maranta arundinacea L. Arrow-root Morinda citrifolia L. Pain killer Pain killer; noni; dog-apple; starvation-apple; hog-apple Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC. Cow-itch Cow-itch Musa × paradisiaca L. Banana Banana; bacova Nicotiana tabacum L. Tobacco Tobacco Opuntia sp. French prickly pear Prickly pear; tuna; poka-pe; bloody mary; miss daisy Passiflora foetida L. Beer apple Pap vine; pap bush Phyllanthus niruri L. Creole quinine Cane piece senna; bitterbush Picrasma excelsa (Sw.) Planch. Bitter ash Piscidia piscipula (L.) Sarg. Dog wood; stinking wood; fish poison Plantago major L. English plantain Plantain; english plantain; janta Pluchea odorata (L.) Cass. Sweet scent; statius tea(?) Sweet scent; cattle tongue; crab bush Plumbago zeylanica L. Blister-leaf; bran-bla [burn-leaf] Blister bush; blister leaf; five fingers Plumeria alba L. White milk tree Frangipani; wild frangipani Portulaca oleracea L. Purslane Pusley Psidium guajava L. Guava tree Guava Punica granatum L. Pomegranate tree Pomegranate Rauvolfia viridis Willd. ex Roem. & Schult. Bitter bush; bellyache balsam Ricinus communis L. Castor-oil tree; oleum ricinus; kajeput; callapat Cattapan; castor; castor bean; castor nut Ruellia tuberosa L. Christmas-pride many-roots Scoparia dulcis L. Senna occidentalis (L.) Link Stinking weed Stinking weed; wild coffee Solanum sp.; Solanum americanum Mill. Lumbush; canckerberry Wild eggplant; turkey berry Spigelia anthelmia L. Worm-grass; worm-weed Pink eye Spondias mombin L. Hog plum Hog plum Sporobolus virginicus (L.) Kunth Shander Drop-seed; sea-side dropseed Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl Verveine Worry vine Thespesia populnea (L.) Sol. ex Corrêa Otaheita tree Haité haitah; heiti-heiti; otaheiti Triumfetta semitriloba Jacq. Bur-bush Mahoe Waltheria indica L. Mash mallow Marsh mallow Zingiber officinale Roscoe Ginger Ginger 3.2. Historical versus contemporary medicinal plant uses Thirty-eight (37%) of the historical medicinal uses were traceable in interviews in 2014, while 64 uses (63%) could not be traced, and appear to be forgotten, discontinued or otherwise lost. We use the term “appear to be lost” since it is not possible to establish the negative fact that a use or the knowledge of medicinal plant use has unequivocally disappeared. The present, qualitative study only included six respondents. While we cannot reject that more plant uses could have been traced by including more respondents, we do not expect a considerably higher number of traceable pre-1900 medicinal plant uses could have been reached beyond the six locally esteemed medicinal plant specialists/herbalists who contributed to this study. The relatively recent literature of the 20th century (Oakes and Morris, 1958, Petersen, 1974, Kuby, 1979, Thomas, 1997) provides a middle point between the pre-1900 uses and the contemporary uses recorded in this study. Of the 102 pre-1900 uses, 42 (41%) could be traced in 20th century literature, slightly more than what could be traced by interview in 2014. However, plant uses which were traceable in 2014 were very probably also present in the 20th century, although not recorded in the literature. Accumulating the contemporary interviews and the recorded 20th century ethnomedicinal observations account for 57 (56%) of the pre-1900 medicinal plant uses in 20th and 21st century (Fig. 3). Fig. 3 Download high-res image (111KB)Download full-size image Fig. 3. Traceability of pre-1900 Virgins Islands medicinal plant uses over time. 3.3. Drivers of knowledge loss That 38 out of 102 pre-1900 medicinal plant uses have been preserved in oral tradition in St. Croix is undeniably a valuable cultural feat. Nevertheless, the question remains: what caused the disappearance of the other 64 plant uses? In a similar study in Ghana, we found that out of 134 medicinal plant uses, recorded 2–300 years ago among the Ga, Fante and Ashanti people, it appears that 69% had disappeared. In the area of Greater Accra we were able to locate and collect nearly all the species, except two which are locally extinct, thus ruling out loss of biodiversity as the main driver behind the substantial knowledge loss (Soelberg et al., 2015). In St. Croix and St. Thomas in 2014, we were likewise able to collect many, but not all, of the wild and cultivated historical medicinal plants species known from of the 18th and 19th century. Two species (the formerly cultivated Maranta arundinacea and wild Picrasma excelsa) appear no longer to be present on the islands, or at least to be very rare. Furthermore, nine species are so uncommon as to be considered unavailable to both general public and herbalists. These are the formerly cultivated Cassia grandis, Erythrina corallodendron and Nicotiana tabacum, and the wild Anthurium crenatum (apparently not present on St. Croix, but to some extent on St. Thomas), Clusia rosea, Exostema caribaeum, Kallstroemia maxima, Plantago major and Scoparia dulcis. Thus, we found that 17% of the 64 historical medicinal plant species are no longer available for use, due to changes in their ecological status. Not surprisingly, in interviews we were only able to trace one (1) of the 13 uses of the 11 pre-1900 medicinal plant species that are now unavailable (the exception being the application of tobacco leaves as a local anaesthetic). This supports the logical assumption that the availability of a plant species directly influences the long-term survival of the medicinal knowledge, and that loss of biodiversity is a significant driver of knowledge loss in a predominantly oral tradition; the successful transfer of medicinal information from one generation to the next depends of the presence of the medicinal plant. In the case of 13 pre-1900 medicinal species, no medicinal use whatsoever could be traced today, and these species have as such entirely lost their status as medicinal plants in St. Croix. Eight of these species are locally extinct or relatively rare (Maranta arundinacea, Picrasma excelsa, Cassia grandis, Clusia rosea, Erythrina corallodendron, Exostema caribaeum, Jatropha multifida, Kallstroemia maxima) and their uses are likely lost due to unavailability. However, five of the former medicinal plants species (Cissampelos pareira, Croton astroites, Rauvolfia viridis, Scoparia dulcis, Triumfetta semitriloba) appear common enough (at least at the present) to be available for use. In fact, 33 of the 64 lost plant uses belong to plants that are present on St. Croix and in Cruzan traditional medicine, since they have retained some pre-1900 uses while losing others, or gained other uses. Thus it appears that other factors than biodiversity loss must have been responsible for the majority of the medicinal plants use disappearance. A key “threat” to traditional medicinal plant use is obsoleteness by lack of popular demand. Advances in conventional biomedicine, e.g. immunisations and antibiotics, may have outdated various medicinal plant uses, or even eradicated the disease or malady it was used for. Societal changes, such as improved living and working standards, may also have rendered certain medicinal plant uses obsolete. There are several examples of pre-1900 medicinal plants uses that Crucians may have little need of today: e.g. Clusia rosea resin used for the chigger parasite which attack bare feet (people wear shoes now), Abelmoschus esculentus fruit for measles (uncommon due to vaccinations), or Anacardium occidentale fruit and Crescentia cujete gourd juice for tuberculosis (uncommon now due to improved public health and effective biomedicinal treatments). However, by grouping the pre-1900 medicinal plant uses in categories based on their use, it is clear that many of the lost uses belong to the same categories as preserved uses (fever, stomach, wound, laxative, pulmonary, and intestinal, pain, anthelmintic, blood purifier, eye-inflammation). Arguably, these lost uses should not have disappeared from the Crucian traditional medicine due to modern obsoleteness. In total, 33 of the apparently lost uses (52%), not counting uses belonging to locally extinct or rare species, fall in the same categories as preserved uses, as shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 4. Download high-res image (236KB)Download full-size image Fig. 4. Use-categories of lost and preserved pre-1900 medicinal plant uses. From this we argue that at least half of the 64 apparently lost pre-1900 medicinal plant uses known from Danish West Indies appear not to be lost due to degraded biodiversity or from lack of modern demand of their purposes. We can only speculate why these plant uses then were lost over time; whether from a conscious de-selection due to side-effects, from changes in the cultural perception of their acutal usefulness, or from the failure to pass the knowledge down the generations whether from ignoration or accident. Whatever the cause, they have disappeared from the traditional medicine of St. Croix today, and exist only as cursory observations, on paper. 3.4. Perspectives Although our results shows that biodiversity loss and replacement by scientific medicine are not the only, or the most significant, drivers of ethnomedicinal knowledge loss, our study design did not allow for direct identification of the cause which we believe is most significant: failure to transfer knowledge from one generation to the next, and the underlying cultural or individual causes thereof. Key informant to this study, bush doctor Veronica M. Gordon, was likely the greatest holder of traditional medicinal knowledge on St. Croix. She died shortly before this paper was submitted. Had she not contributed to this study, the results would have been drastically different. Tragically, there is no doubt that substantial amounts of Veronica's knowledge, old and new, have disappeared with her. From a disciplinary perspective, the historical-ethnobotanical approach of the present study was successful in identifying historical medicinal plant species and their uses, as well as relating these to contemporary uses. To a large extent, this was made possible by a combination of the botanical skills of the pre-1900 collectors and observers, and of the availability of indirect voucher material from a relatively well-known and overseeable island-flora in a well-kept herbarium (C). Nonetheless, the challenges here-in strongly supports the significance of the modern emphasis on voucher material in ethnobotanical studies. The historical-ethnobotanical approach proved successful in providing empirical evidence of the historical intellectual property of 102 medicinal plant uses in the US Virgin Islands, whether or not they are in active use today. It demonstrates that it is possible to extract substantial written documentation of valuable intellectual exchanges with oral traditions, from the body of documents of the otherwise non-commendable context of European colonisation, of which there is more than a few. Regrettably, achieving access to this information is often extremely challenging for the descendants of the original intellectual property holders in the formerly colonised areas, as it requires physical presence in the herbaria, archives and libraries, as well as pre-requisites in language and botany. Accessibility to historical ethnomedicinal information, or other intellectual records of relevance to formerly colonised areas, requires foremost responsible curation of the knowledge and physical materials, ex situ as they are, and most likely the initiative of persons or institutions in the former colonial nations. We have no doubt that collections in many developed countries hold extensive documented knowledge which has vanished from oral traditions, which could be brought forth and again achieve cultural and economic value. As shown in this study, many pre-1900 medicinal plant uses have not been preserved in the oral tradition and are lost on St. Croix. The access to historical ethnomedicinal observations could provide a foundation to re-integrate the forgotten plant uses into contemporary Crucian traditional medicine, to the benefit of the people who depend on plants in their primary or complementary health care. The majority of the plants are still there for the using. While it is beyond the scope of this study to evaluate the safety, toxicology and known pharmacology of the species that the forgotten plant uses belong to, we believe that further ethnopharmacological research into these natural resources has the potential to re-integrate or re-introduce forgotten medicinal plant uses in local or broader ethnomedicinal and pharmacological contexts. A former governor of St. Thomas described to the unique collection of ethnomedicinal documentation in the book Herbs and Proverbs (Petersen, 1974) as a “glimpse backward into [the] uses of plants and herbs which, although well-known a generation ago, have succumbed to the bulldozer and passed into the realm of the unknown”. While it is easy to recognise the said bulldozer when it takes the literal shape of habitat-destruction and biodiversity loss, our study shows that it is the less perceptible bulldozer of cultural change and loss of tradition which causes the greater havoc to the phytomedicinal inheritance. It is necessary to counteract the cultural knowledge loss by supporting local traditional medicine systems, and to continue and improve the scientific tradition of documenting ethnomedicinal knowledge, if nothing else, then to preserve the valuable blueprints of the plant world's apothecary. 4. Conclusions The present study utilized knowledge from an oral medicinal tradition, documented in the context of a by-gone colonial society. It proved possible to derive 102 medicinal plant uses, belonging to 64 identified plant species, from 18th and 19th century writings and botanical collections from the former Danish West Indies (now US Virgin Islands). Thirty-eight pre-1900 medicinal plant uses (37%) were traced in interviews, while 64 (63%) appear to have been forgotten, discontinued or otherwise lost in contemporary traditional medicine on St. Croix. Seventeen percent of the medicinal plants are now rare, and nearly all of the pre-1900 uses belonging to these rare species have disappeared. Not counting the uses of locally rare plants, 52% of the apparently lost uses belong to same use-categories as preserved uses, and thus their culturally disappearance is unlikely to have been caused by biodiversity loss or modern obsoleteness. Literary archives and herbaria in Denmark in this case preserved potentially valuable ethnomedicinal knowledge. Similar historical collections exist, whether more or less accessible. Historical-ethnobotanical studies, supplemented by ethnopharmacological review and validation by modern science, could directly benefit the descendants of the original intellectual property holders in former colonies and serve as stepping stones to integrate, or re-integrate, lost medicinal plant uses in both local and wider evidence-based contexts. Acknowledgements We would like to dedicate this work to the memory of the late Ms. Veronica M. Gordon (1948–2016), revered bush doctor and key informant to this study. We furthermore thank Otto Tranberg, Tomasita Velasquez, Bent Lavaetz, Rudy G. O’Reilly, David Hamada (1973–2015) and David Hayes on St. Croix, and Toni Thomas on St. Thomas, for their contributions to the study. The project was funded by the Cand. Pharm. Povl M. Assens Foundation and the Carlsberg Foundation (2012_01_0118). References Benzon, 1822 P.E. 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