Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
(a)
(b)
Figure 2.4
(a) Marigolds originate from the Mesoamerican centre; (b) Calico vine (
Aristolochia littoralis
)
originates from Brazil
lupin (
Lupinus polyphyllus
),
Rudbeckia
spp.,
Coreopsis
,
Aquilegia
, evening primrose (
Oenothera
),
Trillium
spp.
and
Echinacea purpurea
.
Edible
crops deriving from this region are a grape
(
Vitis labrusca
), blueberries and cranberries.
4. The
South American
Centre account for about
600 species or 13% of the world's ornamental flora.
They include
Aristolochia
,
Canna
,
Dieffenbachia
,
Philodendron
, many species of
Fuchsia
, gloxinia
(
Sinningia
),
Gunnera
,
Salvia splendens
, heliotrope
(
Heliotropium arborescens
), nasturtium (
Tropaeolum
spp.), orchid (e.g.
Epidendrum
),
Verbena
hybrids
(mainly from
Verbena peruviana
) and morning glory
(
Ipomoea alba
,
I. purpurea
,
I. tricolor
).
Edible
species deriving from this region include
potato,
Phaseolus
bean, peanut, pineapple, sweet
potato (
Ipomoea batatas
) and tomato.
5. The
Mesoamerican
Centre (Southern Mexico,
Central America and West Indies) has about 600
species or 13% of world's ornamental species.
These include cacti (e.g.
Opuntia
,
Echinocereus
,
Mammillaria
), orchids (e.g.
Cattleya
,
Odontoglossum
,
Oncidium
and
Vanilla
), begonia (
Begonia imperialis
),
Cosmos bipinnatus
, dahlia, marigolds (
Tagetes erecta
,
T. patula
,
T. tenuifolia
),
Ageratum houstonianum
,
Commelina tuberosa
and
Zinnia violaceae.
Edible
species deriving from this region include maize,
capsicum, pepper, marrow, tomato, avocado, vanilla,
papaya, sunflower, cassava, tobacco and strawberry.
6. The
Tropical Asian
Centre covers the Indian and
Indochinese regions, including the important Indo-
Malayan area. Some 450 ornamental species, about
8% of world ornamentals, have been obtained from
this area. Not surprisingly, many species are tender
and are grown in Britain and Ireland in greenhouses
or indoors. The list includes orchids (e.g.
Cymbidium
,
Phalaenopsis
and
Vanda
), begonias (e.g.
Begonia rex
),
India rubber tree (
Ficus elastica
), cockscomb (
Celosia
argentea
) and garden balsam (
Impatiens balsaminea
)
.
Edible
species deriving from this region include
chickpea (
Cicer arietinum
), mango, orange and banana.
Two interesting historical stories of crop movements
relating to this area of the world may be mentioned.
X
Breadfruit
. The tropical breadfruit (
Artocarpus
altilis
) is a tall dicotyledonous tree species,
probably originating in New Guinea and used as a
form of staple carbohydrate in those areas. It was
spread around the South Eastern Asia area by the
Polynesian peoples over 3,000 years ago.
Joseph
Banks
(see p. 23), while on the fi rst Captain Cook
exploration in the South Pacifi c in the eighteenth
century, noticed the potential of the fruit as food
for plantation workers in the West Indies. On his
return to Britain and Ireland, Banks encouraged the
voyage of the
HMS
Bounty
under
Captain Bligh
in
1787 in which the infamous mutiny of the sailors
prevented any breadfruit reaching the Caribbean. In
1791, a second attempt by Bligh in the ships
HMS
Providence
and
HMS
Assistant
was successful in
transporting large numbers of young plants from
Tahiti in the South Pacifi c to St Helena, St Vincent
and Jamaica in the Atlantic area. The breadfruit
was thus spread to the western hemisphere. After
all this effort, the fruit did not become as important
a part of the diet as was anticipated.
X
Spices
. A second example of plants for worldwide
use are Indonesian spices. Their origin was the
'Spice Islands' (the islands concerned are more
accurately called the Malukus or Maluccas), located
