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This study focuses on the genetic diversity of the cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) grown by the Chibchan Amerindians of Costa Rica. The authors collected cassava in various locations within two Amerindian Reserves: Talamanca, inhabited by Cabecares and Bribris, and Coto Brus, inhabited by Guaymi. Through the use of isozyme electrophoretic techniques we found variation for six out of nine systems analyzed, namely DIA, EST, IDH, MDH, PGI, and SKD. No variation was found in ADH, PGD, and PGM systems. We analyzed the distribution of variation within and between the reserves, and found most of the variation occurred within reserves (Gst = 0.1084). Only low levels of genetic differentiation were found between reserves (Nei’s genetic distance = 0.0088). The high levels of genetic variation within reserves that we found concur with results of previous studies on cassava grown by South American Amerindians and farmers. The role of the breeding system of cassava and the agricultural practices of Amerindians in the maintenance of high levels of genetic diversity are discussed.

Salvia hispanica L, was an important staple Mesoamerican food and medicinal plant in pre-Columbian times. Unlike other Mesoamerican pseudocereal crops such asAmaranthus andChenopodium, it has received comparatively little research attention. An ethnobotanical review of this Mesoamerican crop plantSalvia hispanica has been undertaken to examine changes in use accompanying Spanish colonization. A comparative analysis of accounts of use from the 16th century codices of Mexico and subsequent publications has revealed subtle changes in medicinal, culinary, artistic, and religious uses. Several hypotheses surrounding changes in use through time and the original use(s) that led to domestication are developed and tested through collection of ethnobotanical data in the highlands of western Mexico and Guatemala. A general decline in ethnobotanical knowledge associated with wild populations coupled with a loss of habitat in some locations has degraded important germplasm and knowledge resources for a species with great economic potential.

Sugarcane is one of the most economically important crops with particular cultural and economic significance in the Hawaiian Islands. The historical influence of sugarcane in Hawai‘i tends to overshadow the fact that Native Hawaiians cultivated dozens of unique varieties of sugarcane for almost a millennium before the arrival of Europeans. The objective of this study was to characterize the genetic and phenotypic diversity of sugarcane to reexamine the relationships between traditional Hawaiian sugarcane varieties and heirloom cultivars from elsewhere in the Pacific. To this end, a morphological assessment utilizing 95 phenotypic characteristics of 53 extant cultivars held in ethnobotanical collections was conducted, along with genetic assignment using 6,570 polymorphic SNP markers on 156 diverse varieties. In investigating distinct traditional cultivars of extant sugarcane collections in Hawai ‘i as “Hawaiian,” our findings demonstrated the need for intimate knowledge and relationships with accessions in order to make meaningful interpretations of genetic and phenotypic data. Based on over 15 years of involvement with the heirloom Hawaiian canes and the traditional and contemporary uses, we demonstrated and discussed the unique value of these cultivars, and their potential to contribute to economics, sustainability, and the preservation of cultural heritage.

Cola acuminata andC. nitida nuts were classified into nut weight classes, and each nut weight class was divided into groups according to the number of nut cotyledons. The nuts in each group were analyzed for inorganic and organic constituents. Statistical analyses showed the effect of nut weight to be significant on nutrient composition in the two species (P = 0.001) while cotyledon number effect was not significant inC. acuminata. Germination percentage and growth performance varied directly with nutrient contents which, parenthetically, were positively and significantly correlated with the nut weights (0.77 < r < 0.99 and 0.1%