Hidden Garden has created a unique Afro-botanical collection, featuring African plants used here in the Americas, and other plants which play an important role in Africana ethnobotany. Based on years of research here at the garden and the revolutionary book, In The Shadow of Slavery: Africa’s Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World, we have a growing list of important medicinal, nutritional and spiritual plants that came from Africa over the past 500 years. These plants have been organized into a ceremonial space, using the Sacred Grove model from West Africa (see Ormsby & Egbeako ) in which plant conservation areas serve as grounds for other wellness and spiritual traditions to take place.

Afro-Botany: The interdisciplinary study and forthcoming implementation of traditional botanical strategies used by Africans and their descendants throughout the African Diaspora. Afro-botany includes ethnomedicine, history, environmental science, spirituality, trauma recovery, educational repatriation and health policy decolonization.

Mission: To provide a safe, community space to explore, experience and document the botanical and wellness knowledge of the African Diaspora, and to contribute to the survival of Afro-botany and Traditional African Medicine.

Wilfred Cornwall Herbalist

Vegan Cooking with Giovani Moitland

Senior Center Resident

Planting Rafael Ocampo’s Clove Tree

Medicine Making with Ms. Ivelyn Harris

Cahuita National Park

Bri Bri Excursion

Afro Botany Conference Closing

Honoring the Botanical Traditions of the African Diaspora

Research by volunteers and staff in Afro-botany, the ethnobotany of the African Diaspora, results of which are incorporated into Hidden Garden’s online botanical database and research library.
Seed & Plant Collection – including donations from community members, ethnobotanists and a visit to the Bri Bri Seed Exchange, which proved extremely fruitful. These seeds have been planted by volunteers and are currently under close supervision to ensure their survival.
Networking – identifying and contacting academic experts, non-governmental and governmental organizations and community elders
Wisdom Sharing – creating opportunities for sharing ancestral and academic information in a traditional setting which honors and includes local elders and community members
Botanical Repatriation – offering Africana plants, ethnobotanical information and cultural practices, free of charge, to local Afro-Costa Rican residents and online

The plants listed below are either of African origin or have been integral to the survival of Africans in the Atlantic Diaspora. The list is a work in progress and features particularly those plants which can potentially grow in lowland Caribbean tropics. Those which have a number are already in our garden and the others are on our wish list (those marked with P are priority). If you or someone you know has access to these plants and/or information about the African ethnobotanical experience in the Americas, please reach out to us.

#	Patois	Family	Scientific	Espanol	English	Bri Bri	Other Names	Origin
14	Shoe black	MALVACEAE	Hibiscus rosa-sinensis	Amapola	Hibiscus
18	Bissy	MALVACEAE	Cola acuminata	Cola	Cola Nut			Africa
35	Banana	MUSACEAE	Musa acuminata	Banano	Banana			Asia > Africa
36	Yellow Yam		D. cayenensis
37	Bitter Yam		Dioscorea dumetorum
38	African Yam		Dioscorea rotundata					Africa
47	Ginger	ZINGIBERACEAE	Zingiber officinale	Jengibre	Ginger
60	Dasheen, Coco Yam	ARACEAE	Colocasia esculenta	Malanga	Taro			Asia > Africa
65	Plantain	MUSACEAE	Musa paradisiaca	Platano	Plantain			Asia > Africa
81	Tamrin	FABACEAE	Tamarindus indica	Tamarindo	Tamarind			Africa
108	Air Potato Yam	DIOSCORACEAE	Dioscorea bulbifera		Hard Yam			Africa
128	Cerasee	CUCURBITACEAE	Momordica charantia	Sorosi	Bitter Melon		Balsam Pear	Africa
161	Ackee	SAPINDACEAE	Blighia sapida					Africa
P	Black Eyed Peas		Vigna unguiculata
P	Cotton		Gossypium herbaceum
P	Finger Millet	POACEAE	Eleusine coracana
P	Guinea Millet	POACEAE	Brachiaria deflexa
P	Melegueta Pepper		Afromomum melegueta					Africa
P	Oil Palm		Elaeis guineensis
P	Pearl Millet	POACEAE	Pennisetum glaucum					Africa
P	Sesame		Sesamum alatum					Africa
P	Calalou		Amaranthus spp.	Amaranto	African Spinach		Bledo	Africa
	Calaloo Talamanca	PHYTOLACCACEAE	Phytolacca	Jaboncillo	Poke Root			Americas
	Castor Bean		Ricinus communis					Africa
	Gunghu Beans		Cajanus cajan
P 51	Saril	MALVACEAE	Hibiscus sabdariffa	Rosa de Jamaica	Jamaican Sorrel			Africa
P 61	Okro	MALVACEAE	Hibiscus esculentus	Cafe Chiricano	Okra	Ñanjú	Gumbo	Africa
S	African Eggplant		Solanum aethiopicum					Africa
S	African Yam Bean		Sphenostylis stenocarpa					Africa
S	Bottleneck Gourd		Lagenaria siceraria
S	Fingerling Potato		Plectranthus esculentus
S	Fluted Pumpkin		Telfairia occidentalis
S	Groundnut		Kerstingiella geocarpa
S	Hausa Potato		Solenostemon rotundifolius
S	Jute Mallow		Corchorus olitorious					Africa
S	Muskmelon		Cucumis melo					Africa
S	Piper seed		Piper guineense
S	Rice		Digitaria
S	Sorghum		Sorghum bicolor					Africa
S	Tamarind							Africa

Are you interested in researching Africana Ethnobotany?

Check out this list of suggested research topics. Feel free to contact us about finding a local elder, teacher or thesis advisor if you need assistance.

Create an Afro Botanical list for your bio region. Include common names, ethnobotanical references, personal stories & your best estimate as to the correct scientific name.
Review Afro Botanical literature & media to identify primary terminology endemic to the ethnobotany and ethnomedicine of the African Diaspora
Create a social media to translate any of these research topics into formats that can enter popular culture
Review examples of public health policies or projects which integrate Africana ethnomedicine
Create an outline of Africana ethnomedicine for your region, to include all components of a holistic wellness system
Choose one bio region and compare the Indigenous Botany with the Africana Ethnobotany
Create a list of plants used for beauty throughout the African Diaspora
Create a list of plants used for spiritual connection throughout the African Diaspora or in one specific eco-region
Create a small garden at your institution which reflects the Africana Ethnobotany of the region, establishing an herbarium and ethnobotanical information sharing system for visiting elders & community members to contribute their knowledge

Africana Ethnobotany Teachers

Our Unique Approach

The Bush Medicine Circle is open year round at Hidden Garden. Visitors learn about Afro-Botany through our numbering system, accompanied by an online database, and a tour with one of our local herbalists. We will continue to offer onsite learning experiences to students, academics and community members.

Natural Choices Botanica School is hosting a virtual Afro Botany Certification Program to provide a safe, academic environment for personal exploration, relationship building and advancement of this brand new field. Topics of study include Pan-Diasporic Health Terminology, Sickle Cell Anemia, International Public Health Models and African Plant Spirit Medicine.

Hidden Garden will continue to organize the Wellness Traditions Alliance, a community initiative started with Rich Coast Project in 2015. The Afro-Botany Conference provides a networking opportunity for the policy makers, academics and allopathic doctors who are pioneering the field of hybridized and culturally-sensitive health practices.

The Afro-Botany Conference will be held annually at Hidden Garden in August, to accompany Afro-Costa Rican Heritage Month. It is our goal to contribute the honoring of the botany and wellness strategies of African descendants in addition to other cultural pillars such as music, dance, fashion and food. Listen to a few of the speakers from our first year here, thanks to Rich Coast Project.

Hidden Garden offers a free virtual library, with a priority in documenting the wellness traditions of Africa and the African Diaspora, and of the Americas. To find more information on the topic of Afro Botany, use the search term AFR to see what we have available.