T. Heilbron 2012.Botanical relics of the plantations - osodresie

4 Discussion
4.1 Plantations in Suriname and diversity in their relics
There existed a large variety of plantations in colonial Suriname. The distribution of plantations
from coast more inland was characterized by a variation in soil type, rainfall and subsequently
natural vegetation. Also, the decline in the plantation system was gradual and plantations,
whether urbanized, still in production or abandoned, are still changing. These dynamics in
plantations have led to diversity in the botanical relics. On abandoned plantations, where restoration
of natural vegetation occurred due to lack of maintenance (a process that started as early
as 1667 (Wolbers, 1861)), the context of relics is different from plantations that have ceased to
produce crops more recently, or plantations that after an initial period of urbanization, have seen
a recent de-urbanization (e.g. on plantation Reijnsdorp). Hence, the relics that may be encountered
are different from one site to the next. Plants are dynamic, they grow, reproduce and die.
Whether a plant is a naturally occurring individual or an actual relic is sometimes difficult to
determine, as is the connection of a particular relic to the history of the plantation on which it
occurs.
Diversity in the botanical relics is evident in various aspects. Relics can be present as
original plant individuals from the 17 th century, such as in the lanes of old tamarind trees at
plantation Alliance. They can also be present as relatively young individuals from the recent
past, such as the cacao on plantation Berlijn dated to just after World War II. Relics can be
present as offspring (one or more generation of descendants from the original cultivated plants),
such as the cacao fields in the forest of the plantation Montpellier. They can be attributed to
different social or ethnic groups (slave owners, slaves or wage laborers, Amerindians, African
or Asian). Relics can be of exotic (e.g.Triphasia trifolia) or indigenous origin (e.g.Erythrina
fusca). Those with a known non-indigenous provenance are easier to distinguish as relics than
species that naturally occur in Suriname, since the human cause of the presence of the latter is
more difficult to prove. Relics of Old World origin may have made the Atlantic crossing a few
centuries ago (e.g. Tamarindus indica), or more recently (e.g. Musa balbisiana). Relics might
still depend on humans for propagation, such as the Oryza sativa cultivar, while others have
managed to reproduce by themselves, sometimes even becoming part of the natural vegetation
(e.g. Phoenix reclinata). Relics can be found as a single individual and as a group of individuals
from a single or different species.
4.2 Complications
To attribute a relic to a group and place a relic in time can be difficult. Some species were used by
more than one group of people. Also, plant use and knowledge were conveyed from one group to
another. There are historical examples of exchange between Amerindians and African enslaved
peoples (Voeks, 2013; White, 2010). An example from this research is Musa x paradisiaca,
originally planted by slaves, now commonly found in Javanese gardens at plantation Reijnsdorp.
Another example is, the medicinal use of Caesalpinia bonduc, possibly exchanged between (the
descendants of) former slaves and East Indian wage laborers after the abolition of slavery.
For indigenous species brought to the plantations, natural dispersal is sometimes a real pos-
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