What is Jamaican kino?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
July 21, 2003
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When seagrapes (Coccoloba uvifera (L.) Linnaeus) were first introduced to Europe, they were called Indian Poplar trees, Populus Americana. John Gerard included a drawing and a brief description of "This strange Poplar..." Although, he offered no uses for the seagrape, he noted the leaves "...of an astringent taste, somewhat heating the mouth, and saltish." (The Herbal, 1633 edition)
Seagrapes were useful to the Taino and Carib tribes of the West Indies. The ripe fruit was a ready food source.
Seagrape wood is close-grained and hard and could be worked into numerous durable tools. The strong astringent red sap was used in tanning and dyeing. It was also medicinal.
The natives taught the Spanish its medicinal uses. The sap contains kino-tannic (coccotannic) acid. It brought relief to those suffering from sores in the mouth or simply from sore throats. Powdered it suppressed hemorrhaging. The tannic acid was an effective anti-diarrheal. It neutralized the causative agent--bacteria or toxins (food-poisoning). (Medical Botany, Plants affecting Man's Health, W.H. Lewis and M.P.F. Elvin-Lewis, Wiley & Sons, 1977)
Several plant species provided the astringent known as "kino". Various ports-of-call had their own variety. According to Harvey Wickes Felter, MD and John Uri Lloyd, PhrM, PhD, the seagrape, called Jamaican or West Indian kino, was extracted from the leaves, wood, and bark.
The garnet-red extract was thickened by evaporation, allowed to harden, and broken into small pieces. These pieces could be chewed or dissolved in cold water or alcohol and given to the patient. ("Kino", King's American Dispensatory, Felter & Lloyd, 1898) Given the poor-quality of food aboard early sailing ships, kino would have been a necessary item.
To view a photograph of the seagrape taken in Puerto Rico by Dustin Ròebére, click on the link:
http://www.killerplants.com/plant-of-the-week/20030721.asp
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
What pain-killer came from a strewing herb? Herbal Folklore - December 10, 2001
What was spirit weed? Herbal Folklore - October 11, 2004
What jessamine caused many deaths? Herbal Folklore - February 23, 2004
What is a sorrowful tree? What's in a Name? - October 19, 2001
What is myrrh? Herbal Folklore - July 23, 2001
Frankincense and the Lost City of Ubar Herbal Folklore - December 24, 2001
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Wollemi Pine
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Exclusively from National Geographic, this survivor from the age of the dinosaurs is one of the greatest living fossils discovered in the 20th century. The Wollemi pine is one of the world's oldest and rarest tree species, belonging to a 200-million-year-old plant family thought to have been extinct for more than two million years.
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Previously known only from fossil records, it was presumed extinct until a single tree was found in the Wollemi National Park, Australia, in 1994. Subsequent research discovered 100 adult trees that have survived in a single canyon in this wild and rugged area.
Click here to view canyon, trees and fossil record.
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Comes with a care manual with the full story about the discovery and fascinating history of the Wollemi pine. Comes in a copper-colored container and will be approximately 10''H when shipped. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these plants will fund ongoing conservation research.
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