In 1859 Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope made the following observation:
As Trinidad is an English colony, one's first idea is that the people speak English; and one's second idea, when that other one as to the English has fallen to the ground, is that they should speak Spanish, seeing that the name of the place is Spanish. But the fact is that they all speak French [11].
The plants discussed in this paper reflect the historical fact that Trinidad was first a Spanish then a British colony. Antonio de Sedeño first settled Trinidad in the 1530s as a means of controlling the Orinoco and subduing the Warao. Spanish colonisation in Trinidad remained tenuous. In 1762, after three hundred years of Spanish rule San José de Oruña and Puerto España (Port of Spain) were hamlets rather than towns. Because Trinidad was considered underpopulated, Roume de St. Laurent, a Frenchman living in Grenada, was able to obtain a Cédula de Población from the Spanish King Charles III on the 4th November, 1783 [11]. This Cédula de Población was more generous than the first of 1776 and granted free lands to Roman Catholic foreign settlers and their slaves in Trinidad willing to swear allegiance to the Spanish king. The land grant was thirty two acres for each man, woman and child and half of that for each slave brought. As a result, Scots, Irish, German, Italian and English families arrived. The French Revolution (1789) also had an impact on Trinidad's culture since it resulted in the emigration of Martiniquan planters and their slaves to Trinidad who established an agriculture-based economy (sugar and cocoa) for the island.
The population of Puerto de España (Port of Spain) increased from under 3,000 to 10,422 in five years and the inhabitants in 1797 consisted of mixed-races, Spaniards, Africans, French republican soldiers, retired pirates and French nobility. The small towns of Siparia and Arima were established by the Spanish Capuchins who came from the Santa Maria province of Aragon in 1756 – 1758.
The name semen contra now used in the West Indies as the Creole name for the introduced European plant Chenopodium ambrosioides was originally one of the names of the drug Santonica derived from the introduced European plant Artemesia cina B. Artemesia was also used as an anthelmintic but perhaps less effectively. Spanish traditions have probably been handed down from the original colonial heritage but are reinforced by visits and migrants escaping the turbulent politics of Venezuela.
Artemisia absinthium is used together with other plants as fertility regulators by the French, Spanish New Mexicans (emmenagogue) and in Madeira and this use is ancient [11]. In the 1800s Ageratum conyzoides was called 'herbe chatte' and Eupatorium ayapana was 'z'herbe à femme'. A name change in the last century may have occurred because of the use of Ageratum conyzoides then and currently (given to women after childbirth and to promote menstruation) [11].
Hispanic prayers are used in Latin America for healing and against mal yeux. These spanish-romanic prayers, like the 'oracion' prayer are used during 'santowah' (santigual. The ceremony includes sweet broom (Scoparia dulcis) which is used to sprinkle holy water (S. Moodie-Kublalsingh, Institute of Languages, University of The West Indies, pers. comm. August, 2000). These prayers (magic rather than religion) are said to have come to the New World with the conquistadors.
The non-experimental validation method can be used to advise the public on which plants are safe, effective and useful, and which are not; pending clinical trials. Studies conducted on Ruta graveolens indicate that there are safety issues that need addressing.
The plants used for reproductive problems have some support. Chamaesyce hirta has scientific support but as a diuretic. Other plants with level 3 validity are: Achyranthes indica, Coleus aromaticus, Hibiscus rosa-sinesis, Parthenium hysterophorus and Ruta graveolens. Plants that have limited support are: Abelmoschus moschatus, Ageratum conyzoides. Ambrosia cumanenesis, Aristolochia rugosa, Aristolochia trilobata, Artemisia absinthium, Cocos nucifera, Commelina elegans, Cordia curassavica, Croton gossypifolius, Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita maxima, Desmodium canum, Eleutherine bulbosa, Eupatorium macrophyllum, Justicia pectoralis, Justicia secunda, Mimosa pudica, Nopalea cochinellifera, Parinari campestris, Pilea microphylla, Richeria grandis, Scoparia dulcis, Urena sinuata, Vetiveria zizanioides, and Wedelia trilobata. Plants that have little research data are: Brownea latifolia, Capraria biflora, Catharanthus roseus, Clusea rosea, Cola nitida, Entada polystachya, Eryngium foetidum, Gomphrena globosa,Laportea aestuans, and Leonotis nepetaefolia.
In a previous study conducted in 1995 the red flowers of forest tree called cooper hook (Brownea latifolia) were given for women's menstrual problems, gripes and pain. A decoction of the flowers is red in colour [76]. A male informant whose mother was a midwife used both Brownea latifolia and red monkey step vine (Bauhinia cumanensis /Bauhinia excisa) to make tisanes for women's problems. Apparently using the Doctrine of Signatures, he insisted that the vine when cut should not be white in colour but red like blood. This tisane he claimed would clean out women's insides preventing monthly period pain and would also improve fertility.
The main categories of the Doctrine of Signatures are: similarity between the substance used and the human organ; resemblance in shape or behaviour to a specific animal; correlation between the colour of a substance and the colour of the symptoms; similarities between the substance and the patient's symptoms and the use of a substance that might produce symptoms of a particular disease in a healthy person to remedy those same symptoms in one who is sick [77]. The use of this Doctrine in Trinidad may have many origins including Amerindian. The Waorani in Amazonian Ecuador have a similar logic [78].
The Caribbean's first recognised medicinal plant for reproductive and other problems was lignum vitae (Guaiacum officinale) [11]. In 1603, Bartholomew Gilbert set sail for Nevis from London in the 50-ton Elizabeth, to cut lignum vitae and buy tobacco from the Amerindians [11]. This long-known Caribbean plant has had very little scientific study however, similarly to the other native Caribbean plants evaluated in this paper. This limits the utility of the non-experimental validation of the plants; however the validation provides available information until clinical trials are done.
Caribbean folk medicine has been influenced by European folk medicine, either through the early Spanish and French settlers or through the continuous immigration of Spanish-speaking peoples from Venezuela. Ruda (Ruta graveolens) is a plant of European origin and closely related species are used as emmenagogues, abortives, antispasmodics, sudorifics and anthelmintics across Europe. The antifertility uses were documented by Galen and Pliny the Elder. Artemisia absinthium is also used across Europe for reproductive purposes and these uses are ancient [11,79].
There is currently a commission of inquiry into the operations and delivery of public healthcare services in Trinidad and Tobago [80]. Health care cooperatives in Costa Rica provide an example of how medical costs could be controlled in Trinidad if a similar program was followed [81]. In the 1990s, the cooperatives conducted 9.7–33.8% more general visits, 27.9–56.6% more dental visits, and 28.9–100% fewer specialist visits. Real total expenditure per capita in cooperatives was 14.7–58.9% lower than in traditional clinics [81]. Trinidad has also required and benefited from the skills of visiting Cuban doctors and other foreign doctors. International solidarity has always been at the centre of the Cuban societal project and it has come to the aid of other Caribbean basin countries including Haiti and Venezuela [82]. Rather than importing generalists, if there were more female trained paraprofessionals in place; specialists could be brought in to serve short-term needs. The Jamaican model of expanding the role of community midwives could be followed in Trinidad. Additionally community-based co-ops that include non-traditional practioners, midwives and validated folk-medicine could be studied as an innovative answer to Trinidad and Tobago's on-going health problems.
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