These Plants Came From Africa? Teaching Kids the Origin of Garden Plants

February is Black History month.

Many commonly recognized plants have "roots" that go back to Africa. This continent is very large and diverse. Here grow a vast assortment of flora (plants). It's amazing that we can buy these plants or seeds for these plants in stores all over the world. It's even more surprising that many have grown some of these plants, not knowing where they came from. Please use this article to inform your family about the wealth of plants that are commonly grown, which came from Africa.

Early horticulturists went on plant-finding trips to far away countries. They were looking for new species of plants to study and send home. Many of the tropical plants that we call "house plants" or "exotic plants" were found during these excursions into the rainforest and other parts of the African continent. The plants are now found at your local florist, thousands of miles away from their home environment. Some examples of these plants would be: Amaryllis, Freesia, Jasmine, Dracaena (Corn Plant), Philodendron, Nephthytis, Umbrella Plant, many Ferns, Snake Plant (or Mother-in-Law Tongue), several Orchids, Aloe, African Violet, Peperomia, Kalanchoe, Stone Plant (looks like a stone), Clivia, and Jade Plant. Do you have any of these growing in your house?

Some African plants were able to be used out-of-doors, in the warm summer months of the northern hemisphere. These were mostly used in gardens of wealthy landowners until they became more affordable for other gardeners as well. The plants were considered perennials or annuals, depending on the it's growing cycle.

Some of the perennials are: Elephant Ear, Sedum, various Lilies, Gladiolus, Scilla, African Daisies, Iris (foetidissima), Crocus, Twinspur, Ice Plant, Anacyclus, Kiphofia, Leonurus (Motherwort), Phygelius, Babiana, Snow on the Mountain (Euphorbia), Begonia, Pelargoniums (often referred to as geraniums), many Alliums, Calla Lilies, Melianthus, Eryngium, Epimedium (Bishop's Hat), Papyrus, and Heath.

A few of the annuals would include: African Marigolds, Cape Primrose, Cape Marigolds, Matricaria, King Fisher Daisy, Lobelia erinus, Ursinia anethoides, Swan River Daisy (Brachycome), Wishbone Flower (Torenia), Flax (Linum grandifloum), Nenesia, Forget-me-nots, Gerbera Daisies, Horned Poppy (Glaucium), Madigascar Periwinkle, Lisianthus, Strawflowers, Impatiens, Black-eyed-Susan Vine (Thunbergia), and various Gourds. That's a lot of flowers and yet the list is far from complete.

In addition to the plants that we can grow for beauty, there are African plants that provide materials or produce that people use or eat. Date Palms produce dates, Raphia Palms provide raffia fiber, Vanilla Orchids produce vanilla beans, Banana trees make bananas, Rubber tree sap is used to make rubber, and Coffee shrubs produce coffee beans. Common vegetables and grains that are grown here are Okra, Asparagus, Sesame, Millet, Sorghum, and Onions.

Africa has a great variety of flora that we see everyday in our homes, gardens, and stores. I hope you will discover where your plants originated. Knowing where they came from and what they like, makes it easier to determine the conditions the plants will flourish in. In addition, when we realize that we all enjoy and use plants native to Africa, that continent becomes more important to us, even though it is far away. I hope that you will join others in protecting the fragile environment that produced these plants as well as the environment you live in.

Seed-Starting - As Promised I did say I would talk about seed-starting this month, but I didn't leave much room. I will give you some excellent links to information for seed-starting. You may want to look for seed for some of the African plants listed above for your garden this year.

For Seed Starting Information:

• Cyndi's Catalog of Catalogs - for seed and plant sources.
• Tom Clothier's Seed-Starting Information. He also has Perennials Seed Germination Page, and a Database for seed inventory, seed starting, and exchanging seed that you can download and even customize.
• Official Seed Starting Page.
• Greenweb's Grow almost Anything From Seed.
• Gardenweb's Growing From Seed Forum. The gardener's there are friendly and always ready to help.
• Inexpensive Seed-Starting Set-up (January's Project)

© Linda Mazar