shame old lady, Mimosa pudica, is also known as sensitive plant, sleeping grass, and shame plant. When me was a pickney, we use to call it dead-and-wake.
they haven't found a medicinal use for this plant yet, but they're looking. in the meantime, cows love it for its tastes, and humans love it for its habit of closing up its leaves when you touch them. see the circled areas in these photos.
it usually takes only a few minutes before the leaves open back up.
Mi belly did ah hat mi fi a few months now - suh til di docta ah gu shub camra dung mi throat tomarow fi see ah wah ah gwaan dung desso. Yu si - mi sure seh sum cerassee wudda cure wateva dung deh ... but lawks ie too late now.
But MG - mi ah guh ah di store tomarow fi get some (tanks fi di info)
H.O., you asked bout love bush. that is one plant that used to seriously creep me out (still does!). A cousin of mine from St. Bess used to say if you don't like smaddy, just tek a lickle piece of the orange "love bush" vine and fling it inna dem yard. After a while it just tek over the person's plants.
Is love truly like this, a parasite that smothers and strangles its host, sucking out their life juices until just an empty dying shell is left of their former glory?
Love bush is more commonly known as dodder. Check out some of these other names for it: strangleweed, devil's-guts , goldthread, pull-down, devil's-ringlet, hellbine, hairweed, devil's-hair, and hailweed. It has no leaves.
The love bush seedling that forms on the groud sends out tendrils that grope around in the air until it makes contact with a plant. If the seedling likes the plant, then it attaches and sends little branches into the stem of the host plant. Since it now has food from the host plant, the love bush roots in the ground can die off, no problem.
Sorrel, Hibiscus sabdariffa is also known as roselle. Other Caribbean islands also follow the same tradition we do in Jamaica of boiling the fleshy red sepals to make a tart and delicious Christmas drink.
Tecky started a thread in Health & Fitness about Sorrel's medicinal properties. You can see it here: Tecky's Thread on Sorrel & Ginger
See you namesake here, Solanum Torvum, Susumber, aka turkey berry:
hated by the US authorities, considered a noxious weed, an ecological pest that crowds out native species, importation is prohibited
however, much loved in Jamaica for its medicinal purposes, namely opening up the appetite and relieving colds.
Here's a lickle recipe for Saltfish and Susumber:
1 Whole green Scotch Bonnet pepper
1 Small clove garlic (chopped)
1 Small onion (chopped)
¼ lb. Raw Codfish cleaned and shredded
3 Cup rice
2 Small or medium tomatoes (chopped)
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Cup very young susumber
2 Stalks escallion (chopped)
In 2 tablespoons butter, fry onion, tomatoes, escallion and garlic. Add cleaned susumber, shredded codfish and water and bring to a boil until cooked. Add 3 cups raw rice, Scotch Bonnet pepper and remainder of butter. Add just sufficient water to boil of rice to a grainy consistency. A little extra butter may be added when serving.
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