While young, Jamaicans usually get a ‘dose’ of ‘herb’ to wash us out or purge us as our parents or grandparents would say. As we grew older we hear ganja or marijuana being referred to as the ‘herb’ and even the Jamaican herb.
Clearing the confusion
According to online dictionaries
HERB DEFINED
1. A plant whose stem does not produce woody, persistent tissue and generally dies back at the end of each growing season. NOTE (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Botany) a seed-bearing plant whose aerial parts do not persist above ground at the end of the growing season; herbaceous plant
2. Any of various often aromatic plants used especially in medicine or as seasoning.
(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Botany)
2a. any of various usually aromatic plants, such as parsley, rue, and rosemary, that are used in cookery and medicine
2b. (as modifier) a herb garden
3. (Law / Recreational Drugs) Caribbean a slang term for ‘marijuana’ (the cannibas plant from which ganja is made) NOTE Ganja is especially a highly resinous form of marijuana prepared from the flowering tops and leaves of selected plants and usually ingested by smoking.
Considering these definations found on The Free Dictionary website let’s take a look some herbs from around Jamaica.
Sarsaparilla
Jamaican herbs and plants for treatments etc
PLANT DEFINED:
Botany
a. Any of various photosynthetic, eukaryotic, multicellular organisms of the kingdom Plantae characteristically producing embryos, containing chloroplasts, having cellulose cell walls, and lacking the power of locomotion.
b. A plant having no permanent woody stem; an herb.
USEFUL INFORMATION:
SPICE DEFINED by the Free Dictionary
noun.
1a. Any of various pungent, aromatic plant substances, such as cinnamon or nutmeg, used to flavor foods or beverages.
1b. These substances considered as a group.
2. Something that adds zest or flavor.
3. A pungent aroma; a perfume.
tr.v. spiced, spic
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