Amazonia & Central America

Plant List:



Bixa orellana

Bixaceae (Annato, Achiote family)
Bixa grows as a shrub or small evergreen tree. It has a long history in the Amazon where theseedcoat is used to make a red or orange dye which is used for food coloring, body, hair and cloth paint. The bark is used for fiber. The roots are believed to have digestive properties and the seeds are also used medicinally.
Bixa has heart shaped leaves, pink or peach colored flowers and spiny seed pods.


BrugmansiaBrugmansia

Solanaceae (Nightshade family)
"Angel trumpets"
Brugmansia versicolor (orange tree Datura) unrooted cutting $9.00
Brugmansia candida (white tree Datura) unrooted cutting $9.00
Brugmansia insignis (pink tree Datura) unrooted cutting $9.00

Brugmansia's are exotic trees in the nightshade family. They have a long history of enthnobotanical use in both hemispheres. They are considered sacred in many places where they are grown. They make beautiful bell shaped flowers that can be over a foot long and are prolific bloomers. They are very fragrant at dawn and dusk. They make beautiful potted specimens and tolerate pruning, or grown as small trees in the ground that can grow to 25 feet tall. They can take pruning to shape, and grow best with one leader trunk and let to branch2-3 feet above the trunk.








Justicia pectoralisJusticia pectoralis, var. stenophylla, Masha-Hari $15.00

Acanthaceae (Acanthus family)
Justicia is a plant employed widely in northwest and Venezuela. It is used medicinally to treat pulmonary problems. The leaves are aromatic and are often mixed with snuffs or used alone. It is a plant used in witchcraft, especially in curing practices.
Justicia grows well in partial shade, as a ground cover or edge border and produces small purple and white flowers. It has narrow yellow-green leaves. Rare.







Lippia dulcis, Mayan mint $14.00

Labiatae (Mint family)
Mint has many medicinal uses; remedies for abdominal pain, insomnia, fever in children, sore throat or mouth, bee stings and insect bites are just a few of the complaints that mint cures. This is a very sweet mint from Central America. Loves deep shade to filtered sun. Produces many small white flowers. A nice potted plant for indoors, or a delicate, unagressive ground cover.


Manihot esculenta, Yuca

Euphorbiaceae (Spurge family)
The prefered staple diet for ayahauscaros. Manihot esculenta is a staple starch which manioc, tapiocaand cassava are prepared from. It is used medicinally in South America in treating scabiesand for diarrhea. It is used as a base for mixing other medicinals. The edible tubers are considered to be the staff of life throughout the Amazon, where it was domesticatedby lowland people prior to the arrival of Europeans.

Yuca is a fast growing, shrubby plant with long, starchy tubers. The leaves are palmatewith red veins and large, round hanging seed pods. Yuca can be plantedin the spring and harvested in the fall. The tubers can be stored in winter.


Passiflora edulis

Passifloraceae
Beautiful, easy to grow, "purple granadilla" passion vine. The leaves of this vine are deeply lobed, produces white flowers banded with purple, and delicious purple edible fruit. Seed collected in Brazil.

Turbina corymbosa, ololiuqui

Convolvulaceae
Rare vine from southern Mexico, produces clusters of white flowers tinged with yellow. Vine can grow to become rope-like and huge. Dried seed pod is a tiny, chocolate flower containingtwo seeds. There are early records of the religious and medicinal use of this plant by Aztecs and other Mexican Indians.


Vanilla planifolia Vanilla planifolia, Vanilla orchid

Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Vanilla planifolia, the source of the commercial vanilla essence was used in Mexico by the Aztecs and other native tribes as a flavoring for chocolate drinks.
This vine has alternate, smooth, thick, oval leaves and aerial roots. It produces pale green flowers that can be hand pollinated to produce the pod-like fruit.














References (click on the books)


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