By Sarah Fiorello

berries up close
Elderberries

Sambucus canadensis

Enslaved Africans adopted plant knowledge from Indigenous peoples including medicinal uses of American elderberry. Elderberry medicine is made from the berries, leaves, and roots, used to treat a variety of ailments including coughs, colds, fever, asthma, inflammation, infections, and constipation.


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Fish Pepper

Capsicum annuum ‘Fish Pepper’

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Capsicum frutescens ‘African Bird’s Eye’

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Citrullus lanatus