02/02/2025
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50 Common Native Plants Important [to Native Americans] and Florida's Ethnobotanical History
Many plants provided important sources of food for Native Americans and early settlers in Florida.
Important food plants included fruits, nuts, roots (starch), grains, and greens that varied by habitat, region, and time of year.
A few examples of important food plants included fruits from cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco), pond apple (Annona glabra), and saw palmetto (Serena repens); and starch from coontie (Zamia pumila) roots (see Table 3).
The "heart" of the cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), commonly referred to as swamp cabbage, was and still is commonly eaten in many rural areas (see Table 3).
Generally speaking, ethnobotanical uses of plants can be grouped into six main applications: food, fiber (including dyes), medicinal, housing/construction materials, transportation, and miscellaneous uses (tools, toys, weapons, ceremonial objects, etc.).
In what is now the southeastern United States including Florida, evidence indicates indigenous tribes traded or exchanged goods throughout eastern North America.
Glades Indians were Florida's indigenous people, whose tribes included the Calusa (southwest Florida), Tequesta (southeast Florida), Mayamis (Lake Okeechobee), and lesser known Jaega and Ais ( Austin, 1997). During the Mississippian Culture Period (1000 to 1700 A.D.), the transfer of goods continued and these uses began to be better documented, which provided information currently available about plants and their uses.
Spanish explorers, missionaries, and settlers also brought new plants and information to Florida.
Native American peoples who lived in Florida at the time of European settlement were decimated as a result of introduced diseases, forced labor, physical conflicts, and other factors. As a result, information on native plant species and how they were used was undoubtedly lost or destroved.
Paleoethnobotanists study the use of plants by humans based on archaeological information and have restored some of that lost information, including information about early people's diets, class structure, gender relations, and site structure.
Additionally, paleoethnobotanists have learned that plants used in Florida vary in distinct ways from trends found at sites in other southeastern states. For example, evidence from south Florida indicates the use of sub-tropical plants such as papaya (Carica papaya; D. Ruhl, Florida Museum of Natural History, pers. comm., 2001).
In Florida's northern panhandle, prehistoric finds show only a few pockets containing southern plant species found at sites in Georgia, Alabama, and further north (e.g., Fritz 1993; Ruhl 2000).
Florida sites lacked many of the starchy plants and contained different species of nuts as compared to more northern locations.
Today's Florida Seminole and Mikasuki tribes, although not indigenous Florida peoples, still use traditional herbal remedies passed down by their ancestors. For the majority of Florida's current population, dependence on gathering native plants for food has been replaced by commercial agriculture.
Native plants that have been developed into significant commercial crops include pecans (Carya illinoiensis), blueberries (Vaccinium sp.), and muscadine grapes (Vitis rotundifolia) (see Table 3).
Citrus (Citrus sp.), which was first introduced by the Spanish during the 1500s, currently is one of Florida's most important commercial commodities (Jackson & Davies 1999).
Excerpt from “50 Common Native Plants Important In Florida's Ethnobotanical History” PDFhttps://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/articles/fifty-common-native-plants-important-in-floridas-ethnobotanical-history.pdf
Images from UF IFAS except
🌟 Seminole Pumpkin by Kelli Varon of Seed the Stars
🌟 Native persimmons photo by Florida Fruit Geek
From left to right
First row: Native Chickasaw plums, native red mulberries, native muscadine grapes
Second row: Native persimmons, native blueberries, pecans hybrid
Third row: Native Seminole pumpkin, native hearts of cabbage palm, native prickly pears.
Reposted from Nov 2023 ~ Carolina Madera
“Carolina’s note: Go taste the best tiny native persimmons “pumpkin spice date pudding taste when completely ripe!” at Dreamer’s interactive sensory Garden open to public sunrise to sundown. Persimmon trees planted by Craig Hepworth Florida Fruit Geek
Master Gardeners Volunteer every Tuesday 9 am to 11 am 920 NW 4th St, Gainesville, FL 32601
Let the Master Gardeners know I said hi 👋🏽. I try to visit after work or weekends when I’m in downtown.
Craig’s article on how to propagate native persimmon tree and the history of that local fruit tree 🌳 https://floridafruitgeek.com/2019/11/28/the-turkey-lake-american-persimmon-free-fruits-scionwood-are-available-in-gainesville/
Guccione Architectural Landscape Designs making the world a prettier place.
