BETWEEN SANTURCE AND LONDON: PARIETARIA

IF you are sixty of age, you probably grew up in an agrarian culture, at least if you are in  the Caribbean.  If you had a mother, she probably had some notions about medicinal herbs.

Mine did and there are around ten names of medicinal plants I remember from conversations or for being cured with them. That is the background of this post.

I would have never expect to find the name of any plant from my context, concrete/asphalt in the Caribbean,  a weed, growing in London. It does not matter if it they are not related or even similar.

Richard Mabey, on page 287, mentions it. The book, WEEDS has been mentioned more than once.  I declare for the record,  that if you want to be a first division or great leagues gardener/collector, understanding weeds would be one of the credentials required.  

Pellitory of the wall:  A wall lover, this species tags older
walls all over London.  It will also grow on stony ground and gorgeous brownfield sites.  Old French and Latin are the origins of the words Pellitory and Parietaria (the scientific name) they mean wall. 

ALL was hunky dory in the beginning. Something was wrong. Plants growing in cold climates need that cold period to survive. That is when research left no doubts. The British Parietaria has nothing to do with what we call Parietaria.

Ours, is Pepperomia pellucida aka  Planetaria or Prenetaria. In me garden it grows on and off, where it wants, always a surprise. It is mentioned  in this poem by Hector Ruben Cardona, Phd, linguist, friend and former classmate.

Prenetaria

De la Noche Buena 

con la prenetaria,

tras una plegaria

se sirve la cena.

La mesa esta llena

de manjares ricos,

gratos, exquisitos,

con clavo y gengibre;

y que viva libre

siempre Puerto Rico.

Time to go.  Names can deceive, so  does perception. That is why a little research is always fun.