African Names for American Plants

By Tinde R. van Andel

Slaves brought plant knowledge with them that remains in communities of African descent in the New World.

This Article From Issue

July-August 2015

Volume 103, Number 4

Page 268

DOI: 10.1511/2015.115.268

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On a hot, sunny day in July 2011, I walked through the market of Lokossa, a medium-sized town in Benin. The market looked like any other market in Africa: a chaotic ensemble of rickety stalls, standing on muddy ground, piled with locally produced fruits, vegetables, smelly smoked fish, second-hand clothes from Europe, and brightly colored plastic buckets from China.

This 1790s depiction of Loango slaves from contemporary Gabon in Suriname shows how slaves adopted New World plants but also brought plants and knowledge from Africa. Here, they have South American pineapple, cotton, and tobacco, but also in the basket is a large green fruit that looks like watermelon, which is from Africa.

Image by William Blake, influenced by J. G. Stedman.

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