African Ethnobotany in the Americas provides the first comprehensive examination of
ethnobotanical knowledge and skills among the African Diaspora in the Americas. Leading
scholars on the subject explore the complex relationship between plant use and meaning among
the descendants of Africans in the New World. With the aid of archival and field research
carried out in North America South America and the Caribbean contributors explore the
historical environmental and political-ecological factors that facilitated hindered
transatlantic ethnobotanical diffusion the role of Africans as active agents of plant and
plant knowledge transfer during the period of plantation slavery in the Americas the
significance of cultural resistance in refining and redefining plant-based traditions the
principal categories of plant use that resulted the exchange of knowledge among Amerindian
European and other African peoples and the changing significance of African-American
ethnobotanical traditions in the 21st century. Bolstered by abundant visual content and
contributions from renowned experts in the field African Ethnobotany in the Americas is an
invaluable resource for students scientists and researchers in the field of ethnobotany and
African Diaspora studies.
