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The Ethnobotany 491
Persea borbonia. a. Branch with flowers. b. Bud. c. Flower.
d. Anther. e. Branch with fruit. Drawn by Vivian Frazier.
From Correll and Correll 1972.
Carolina, Catesby said, ‘‘The wood is fine-grain’ed,
and of excellent use for Cabinets, etc. I have seen some
of the best of this Wood selected, that has resembled
Water’d Sattin, and has exceeded in Beauty any other
Kind of Wood I ever saw.’’ Sargent (1905) wrote that
the wood was ‘‘heavy, hard, very strong, rather brittle,
close-grained, bright red.’’ The wood has been used
from at least the time of Catesby for cabinets, and also
on the interior finish of houses. Formerly, it was used
in ship- and boatbuilding. Comparing its wood to
mahogany with ‘‘Florida mahogany’’ is high praise
indeed.
Williams ([1837] 1962) also praised the wood. He
wrote, ‘‘This tree produces timber inferior only to
mahogany, which it closely resembles.’’ He then added,
‘‘The young leaves are often used for tea, which is a
most pleasant and healthful beverage.’’
The Flemish Charles de l’Ecluse, who became the
king’s botanist to James I of England, was the first to
apply the name Persea to these plants. Philip Miller
picked up the name and continued its use. That Greek
name originally was used by Theophrastus and
Hippocrates for an unknown Egyptian tree. Of that
tree, Pliny wrote, ‘‘Persea ... is far different from the
Peach-tree Persica and beareth fruit like vnto Sebes-
ten, of colour red’’ (from a 1602 translation). The
derivation of Persea was thought by Pliny to be the
same as Persica (from Persia), but that is dubious.
Apparently, Persia is derived from Greek persis, which
in turn was probably taken from Arabic fars. Some
have speculated that the Old World plants called
Persea were Cordia myxa (Boraginaceae), but their
identity remains uncertain.
Curiously, Linnaeus did not follow either l’Ecluse
(alias Clusius) from 1601 or Gaspar Bauhin from 1623
in keeping these plants distinct from Laurus. Instead,
Linnaeus called the plants Laurus persea, which we
now know as P. americana (avocado). Linnaeus’s
reluctance to keep Laurus separate from Persea is
reflected today in the chaotic status of genera in the
family.
Other names for red bay and its variations
(including P. pubescens) are laurel-tree, shore bay,
swamp bay, swamp red-bay, sweet-bay, and tiss-wood.
The last name, ‘‘tiss-wood,’’ may be related to its use
in tisanes for a beverage or medicine. The first record
of it that I saw was by Vignoles ([1823] 1977) who
spelled it ‘‘tiswood.’’ Almost certainly, this plant and
sassafras (Sassafras albidum) have been used interchangeably
since Europeans encountered people using
them. Leaves of both have served as the basis of
gumbos (from Choctaw, kumbo), especially those
including crabmeat.
The Miccosukee call these trees tó:lî, their relatives
the Creeks say tó:la, and the Koasati say tolá.
Surprisingly, because they were supposed to have a
distinct language, the Timucua also said tola. Those
are simple terms that cannot be translated. However,
the Alabama call the tree ittoissi kosáoma (itto, tree,
hissi, hair, kosooma, stinking). This may be what the
Choctaw called iti chinisa (striped tree).
William Bartram ([1791] 1958) recorded that the
trees were called eto mico [itto micco, eto micco] (eto,
tree, mekko, tree, Creek). Simmons ([1822] 1973) noted
that the Seminoles were still using the name. This tree
is perhaps the most important plant among modern
and historic Seminoles. The Seminoles used the leaves
to make a beverage like tea. They also used the dried
leaves in cooking like their relatives the Choctaw, and
they made spoons from the wood. They were not the
first to use the plants in Florida, as the pollen of P.
borbonia has been found in a pre-Columbian site near
Lake Okeechobee (Hogan 1978).
Red bay has been used by the Seminoles as an
abortifacient, analgesic, antiemetic, diuretic, aphrodisiac,
emetic, febrifuge, a laxative, a love medicine, a
panacea, a psychological aid, in childbirth, to cure
dreams, and to improve the appetite, as well as in a
ceremonial context (Sturtevant 1955). The Creeks and
their relatives the Seminoles diagnose diseases in ways