Detail View: JCB Archive of Early American Images: [Colocasia hederacea...latifolia; Colocasia hederacea...laciniata; Colocasia hederacea...angusti-folia; Colocasia hederacea...folio cordato]
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Accession number:
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1926
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Record number:
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01926-5
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JCB call number:
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E693 P734d / 2-SIZE
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Image title:
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[Colocasia hederacea...latifolia; Colocasia hederacea...laciniata; Colocasia hederacea...angusti-folia; Colocasia hederacea...folio cordato]
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Place image published:
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[Paris]
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Image publisher:
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[Imprimerie royale]
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Image date:
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[1693]
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Image function:
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plate LI; following table of contents
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Technique:
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engraving
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Image dimension height:
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39.6 cm. (platemark)
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Image dimension width:
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25.1 cm.
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Page dimension height:
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42 cm.
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Page dimension width:
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25.8 cm.
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Materials medium:
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ink
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Materials support:
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paper
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Description:
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View of a landscape with eight kinds of plants lettered for identification and discussion in the text.
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Source creator:
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Plumier, Charles, 1646-1704
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Source Title:
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Description des plantes de l'Amerique. Avec leurs figures.
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Source place of publication:
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A Paris
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Source publisher:
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De l'imprimerie royale.
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Source date:
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M.DC.XCIII. [1693]
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notes:
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The Colocasias described here are probably what is now known as Xanthosoma or Elephant Ear, an aroid. It was originally cultivated in Africa and is now widely found in tropical South America and the West Indies. Its corms and young leaves are edible if cooked, but poisonous if not. Plumier describes having barely tasted part of the plant and having his mouth become so inflamed that he was unable to speak for two hours. See Sokolov, Raymond, "Montserrat's Secret Gardens" in Natural History (April 1992, pp. 72-75) for a discussion of its use by slaves as food.Plumier, a member of the order of the Minims, was one of the most important botanists of his day. He travelled in Europe and to the Americas to collect specimens. After his first trip to the French Antilles, he was appointed royal botanist to Louis XIV. He visited the West Indies in 1689, 1693, and 1695. He was particularly known for his depiction of ferns. The genus Plumeria (or Plumiera) is named after him, and he was the first to identify the cochenille (cochineal) as an insect.Jean Anisson, Director of the Imprimerie Royale, is given special credit for the printing of this book.Image title taken from plate titles in text.
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Time Period:
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1651-1700
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Provenance/Donor:
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Acquired in 1854.
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Owner and copyright:
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©John Carter Brown Library, Box 1894, Brown University, Providence, R.I. 02912
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geographic area:
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Caribbean Islands
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Subject Area:
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Flora and fauna
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Subject headings:
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Natural history--West Indies, French
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Subject headings:
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Botany--Pre-Linnean works
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