Click below to see our plants alphabetically listed by common name with their cures and cooking ideas

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Search for Latin names and more here!

**Cabbage Palm Tree Click here to see the -- PALMS AND SAGOS PAGE

Cocoa Tree Theobroma cacao L.
Reaching a modest height of only 25 feet the cacao likes it shady so tall trees are inter-planted to provide that environment. Once trees are established, cacao pods can be seen growing from all parts of the older wood over time ripening to a brownish red. The tree will usually begin bearing in four years, fully maturing in seven to ten years, and then bearing for fifty years or more. When cacao is eight to ten years old, it is time to prune the top branches to encourage lower and younger branches to develop. A healthy cacao tree produces two crops each year.
Benefits:
      Lately promoted as being heart beneficial, chocolate is now also credited with lowering blood pressure and playing a part in the release of serotonin, the feel good brain chemical. As well, chocolate has plentiful magnesium which is essential for bone health -- one ounce a day should do the trick. Be sure it is dark chocolate of the finest quality.
       Chocolate has recently been much touted as a miracle cure much like green tea and garlic have been. This latest star of the health gurus is maybe the best as who in the world wouldn't love chocolate. If it doesn't save your life, at least it will make it a little sweeter.
From: Tropical Mexico and Central America and the tropical areas of northern South America
Photographed: To the left at the Grafton Bird Sanctuary in Tobago. Immediately below at the Winter Garden in Auckland, New Zealand and after that at our former home at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: Plant your cocao tree in the shade in compost rich soil and give it routine rainfall or watering. These are appealing trees and once mature the fruits will give you no end of astonishment in how they grow.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2013/2018

Once you've opened your pod and retrieved the probably gooey mess inside give them a rinse in cool water to remove as much of the goo as possible. Let the seeds dry and rub with course sand to remove the last of the now papery seed covering. Now comes the tricky part. Place the seeds in a clean glass or stainless steel tray and cover with netting to eliminate the possibility of fruit flies finding the seeds. Keep the seeds moist and warm and shaded. I would recommend using a spray bottle with warm water to dampen the seeds several times a day. Do not let them sit in water. When a small plant emerges place it in a 3 ft wide plastic bag filled with a good composted soil. Put holes in the bottom of the bags for drainage. Leave the little trees each in its own bag for about six months before transplanting them.

Candelabra Bush, Candlestick, Candle Tree, Ringworm Tree, Candle Bush, Empress Candle Plant Cassia Alata, Senna Alata
This is a perennial deciduous bush/small tree with brilliant yellow flowers that grow up stems that stand out from the top of the foliage. The flowers are dramatically lumpy looking and curiously very appealing.
Benefits: The candelabra has both antibacterial and anti fungal qualities, hence one of its names is "ringworm tree." Before steaming full ahead to treat any fungal or other disorders you may have realize that the plant is also considered toxic and exercise care and good judgment in its use.
From: Mexico or maybe Argentina
Photographed: I regret very much not having a photograph of this plant. It is stunning and I haven't seen one since leaving Montserrat.
Planting and Care: This plant is one that grows in a hot Caribbean environment with blistering mid-day sun and not nearly enough water and it loves every minute of it, producing its startlingly yellow flowers usually in the late summer or early fall. The bush grows to be about 10 feet tall and just as wide. It is not frost hardy.
Please Note: Once established these bushes can withstand severe droughts. This is an especially wonderful trait given the unpredictability of today's weather patterns.
Text ©KO 2010/2018

**Caraway, Wild Cumin, Carvies, Carroway Carum carvi or Fructus carvi
Caraway is a pretty frothy foliage plant whose seeds are its best feature. We used them in making our potato bread when we lived in Montserrat and pretended we were eating a good rye bread which was not available there. As an added benefit the roots of the caraway are also edible cooked much as you would carrots or turnips.
Benefits: Aside from contributing its lovely flavor to our breads, caraway is said to be beneficial in aiding digestion.
From: SE Europe or western Asia
Photographed: Not yet, but I'm on the look out.
Planting and Care: Caraway is a biennial meaning it grows for two years. In the first it will reach a height of about 8 inches or so, but it will grow to be at least 2 feet tall in the second year. Plant the seeds where the plants will grow permanently in a sunny or semi shady area with well drained neutral soil.
Text ©KO 2008 and GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2014/2018

**Cast Iron Plant Aspidistra elatior
This green leafy plant grows to be about two and one half feet tall and spreads with separate shoots as it matures. Ours was about two feet in diameter and lived in our very shady terrace garden at our former home in Montserrat. It is a real survivor -- drought, volcanic ash falls and heavy duty acid rain (enough to literally melt many plants in the garden) -- none of these seem to have phased it one bit. I hope I have identified this plant correctly, but it may be a Dracena thaloides. I would very much like to hear from you if you can help in distinguishing between these two plants.
From: China
Photographed: Not yet, but I am looking in all the gardens we visit.
Planting and Care: This is one of those wonderfully adaptable plants and one that thrives in shade. As for its soil requirements, it is just as adaptable doing equally well in soil that is slightly alkaline to slightly acid.
Text ©KO 2007/2010/2018

Cat's Claw Creeper Macfadyena unguis-cati
Once finding out what this beautiful vine was, I learned that its flowering time is fairly short and in many places it is considered a pest plant. That being said, I thought it was glorious in bloom (I especially love yellow flowers) and with a little bit of attention it can be controlled.
Benefits: Its exuberance.
From: Mexico to Argentina
Photographed: In Eraclea Minoa in Sicily, Italy, in 2012.
Planting and Care: This fast growing and tenacious vine is perfect for covering unattractive walls in a hurry. Plant it in full sun, give it routine watering or rainfall and it will be off and running. Once established, it will be somewhat drought tolerant.
Text and Photograph ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2014/2018

My #16 Vine Mystery was solved by Glenn a visitor to my website who lives in Brisbane, Australia. Many thanks for your help.

**Celery Apium
Celery has got to be one of the best foods in the world. It can be eaten fresh from the garden, chilled in a salad, as a fresh leafy swizzle in a bloody mary or cooked in soups and stews.
Benefits and Warnings:
Potassium and vitamins B and C are just a few of the accepted benefits of celery. Now it may be a good way to moderately lower your blood pressure and even to attract women. So, fellows eat up and hope for the best.
WARNING: Celery has made it to the top ten of pesticide, herbicide and fungicide ladened foods. Grow it yourself or buy certified organic only.
Harvesting: We never pull up a whole plant, but carefully cut what we need from the base of the plant leaving the rest of the plant to continue growing. This worked extremely well in Montserrat where the plants never flowered. At Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, I saw my first celery plant flowers. I was pretty thrilled until I realized I'd be losing the plants. I've now been cutting off the flowering stem for use in stews where its intense flavor is wonderful. I'm hoping the plant happily carries on not having figured out it has been tricked.
From: The Mediterranean
Photographed: In our garden at our former home in Montserrat.
Planting and Care: Celery does not mind being planted in a large clay pot or even a plastic bucket. In a clay pot about 15 inches across the top and about 15 inches deep, you can comfortably plant four celery plants, spacing them evenly. Growing celery in a tropical or Caribbean environment is not what you may be used to in a more northerly environment. Use a lot of water; soak the plants every morning! They also like sun and a lot of compost tea or fertilizer. In the tropics, planting anything in the garden is always a risk. Plant a few celery plants in a pot and then plant the rest of the flat in the garden. That way you'll have a little insurance; for sure the plants will grow in one place or the other.
Text and Photograph ©Krika.com 2008/2010 and GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2013 & 2014/2018

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO LIVED IN OUR POT OF CELERY IN MONTSERRAT

**Cereus See the "N" Page -- NIGHT BLOOMING CEREUS
We recently also got a piece of another similar plant called Hylocereus, though this one is triangular in shape and seems to prefer growing on a tree for support. It likes an acid soil and some sun. It is native to Mexico and Central America. See The "H" Page HYLOCEREUS
Text ©KO 2007

Chamomile
This is a plant whose small flowers are used in calmative tea. We don't have any growing in the garden, but will as soon as we can. It is a lovely plant and a wonderfully aromatic tea.
Text ©KO 2007

Chenille Plant Acalypha hispida -- Please see the 'L' Page -- Love Lies Bleeding

**Chickens in the Garden
Though chickens eat lots of pest insects in the garden and leave behind valuable fertilizer, they also eat string bean flowers and young corn ears so it’s a toss up as to the value of free ranging chickens as garden helpers.

Recently we learned from homesteading friends in Oregon that you can make a fenced chicken run surrounding your kitchen garden. Bugs won't get past the chickens on the way to your veggies and the fertilizer for your garden will be just a few feet away. Not a bad idea!
Text ©KO 2008

Also See the "W" Page -- WILDLIFE

CHINESE EVERGREEN

Photographed: In our garden at our former home in Montserrat 2008

Photographed: In the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, Australia, in 2013.

Chinese Violet, Creeping Foxglove, Ganges Primrose, Philippine Violet Asystasia gangetica
Benefits: Aside from being an attractive ornament flowering plant, the Chinese violet is eaten in some African countries and it is also a staple of African traditional medicine. It is also an attractant for bees and butterflies.
From: South Africa
Photographed: At the Latour Farm in Tobago, in 2018.
Planting and Care: This lovely perennial is considered invasive in some parts of the world. In fact, it "invaded" my garden and lived with the spider plants where it received full sun and relatively frequent rainfall.
Text and Photograph ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2018

To see it living with the spider lilies, please click here.

For a wonderful Caribbean alternative to cilantro See The "F" Page FITWEED

Cinnamon Tree Cinnamon zeylanicum or Cinnamon verum
Cinnamon has become one of the latest foods touted to save or completely transform your life with its anti-inflamatory and antioxidant properties. I'm not such a follower by nature that I'm buying what they're selling, but I doubt it will hurt you if you consume it with common sense and it tastes wonderful so why not give it a try. Please don't try to take it dry and do avoid the artificial stuff at places like Cinnabon.
From: Sri Lanka
Text ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2013

Cloves Syzygium aromaticum or Caryophyllus aromaticus or Eugenia carophyllata or Eugenia caryophyllus
Benefits: Aside from the wonderful flavor it imparts to so many of our favorite foods, cloves are a wonderful way to soothe the pain of a toothache. Cloves are also said to have a wide range of other medicinal benefits especially for digestion and for the respiratory system.
From: Indonesia
Planting and Growth: The relatively small tree that produces what we know as cloves requires a year round hot humid rainy climate with temperatures not exceeding 100° F. This is one tree that is probably best left growing on clove estates in the Far East.
Text ©KO 2008

Coral Bean, Shrub Coral Bean Erythrina x bidwillii
This is a small tree usually growing to about 8 feet in height though sometimes it will stretch upward by a few more feet. Because of its small size it is often considered a shrub rather than a tree. Either way it's terrific blooming for months on end.
Benefits: The flowers of this pretty tree will attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Maybe best of all they are deer resistant.
From: Australia
Photographed: At the Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum, in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA in 2014.
Planting and Care: Plant this delightful plant in full sun in a relatively dry area in your garden. Best of all the coral bean is hardy to about 20°F though I wouldn't recommend counting on that with the global changes in climate we are now experiencing.
Text and Photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2018

My #5 Vine Mystery was generously solved by Nathaniel, a visitor to the site. I am very grateful for his help.

Photographed:   In the Botanic Garden in Wellington, New Zealand, 2013.

Photographed:   In the Botanic Garden in Wellington, New Zealand, 2013.

**Coconut Palm See The "P" Page -- PALM TREES

Comfrey 'Axminster Gold', Comfrey Symphytum X uplandicum
Benefits: Comfrey is used as a fertilizer and as a medicinal herb.
From: Europe
Photographed: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay Maine, 2013.
Planting and Care: This comfrey can handle full sun in rich, moist, well drained soil. Actually it does pretty well in partial shade too. It will grow to be at most 6 feet tall and about as wide and when well situated it will flower in early summer.
Text and Photograph ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2013/2018

Comfrey is a fascinating plant having a long history in medicinal uses and surprisingly an equally interesting history as a fertilizing plant. Wikipedia is a very good source of detailed information on both of the qualities.
Click here to take a look https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfrey

Community Gardens
The idea of making land available to members of a community for summer or year round gardens seems wonderful. It allows people to grow foods that may be difficult to find in local markets and to plant heirloom seeds for produce that long ago was forgotten in commercial farming. Ideally there are restrictions on poisonous chemicals that may be used, though I suspect untrained gardeners may turn to them when they are having problems with vegetable eating insects.

The garden photographed below had another purpose in that it served as a training ground for students studying agriculture at nearby colleges. Best of all, the foods these latter folks grew were given to homeless shelters providing them with a free source of nutritious fresh foods.
Text and photographs ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2013

**Coralblow See The "F" Page -- FIRECRACKER

**Cordia Tree, Geranium Tree, Geiger Tree Cordia sebestena
This lovely tree has large round medium green papery leaves and routinely bears clusters of very attractive reddish orange flowers which are most abundant in the spring and summer. These flowers produce edible, but not tasty, white golf ball sized seed fruits. This is another of my survivor friends; the cordia is beautiful and tough!
Benefits: The fruit in the photograph on the right below is both edible and medicinal. A medicinal syrup made from any part of the tree has been used in treating coughs.
From: The cordia tree is native to the Caribbean and Central America.
Photographed: In Crown Point, Tobago, in 2017.
Planting and care: The cordia is well adapted to growing in dry and even salty conditions. In ideal conditions it will grow to be about thirty feet tall with a spread of about fifteen feet.
Text ©KO 2008 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2018

**Coriander see "Cilantro" above and Also See The "F" Page -- FITWEED

This was one of my vine mysteries graciously identified by a visitor to this website GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com. I'd like your help too!

Corkscrew Vine, Caracalla Bean, Climbing Shell Plant, Snail Vine, Snail Bean, Snail Flower Vigna caracalla
This is an exuberant flowering vine that I saw for the first time in New Zealand. I vowed that I would have one some day, but had no idea what it was called until a few months ago when one of the site's visitors wrote to tell me about it. I was thrilled thinking I could order the seeds or even a plant. Little did I know how generous this visitor would be. Right away she offered to send me some seeds and indeed she did. I have little plants now thriving in a pot, soon to be placed out in the garden to climb the walls with morning glories, wisteria and passion flowers.
Benefits:
From: Tropical South America and Central America
Photographed: In the Winter Garden in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2013.
Planting and Care: Once set in, this is a vigorous and high climbing vine so give it a lot of space. It would be a shame to have to keep it trimmed to a small space. Whether you grow this from seed yourself or buy a plant ready for the garden, plan to set it in an area of the garden getting as much full sun as possible, but at least six hours a day. Dig a hole about twice the size of the root ball and mix the soil with good compost, set the plant carefully so that its crown will be no deeper than the surrounding soil and add back the improved soil. Keep it moist, but not wet until it looks like it has settled in well. After that water when dry and enjoy.
Text and Photograph ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2013/2018

Crape Jasmine See the "I" Page -- INDIA CARNATION

**Crepe Ginger See The "G" Page GINGER -- Spiral Ginger

**Cuban Oregano See The "T" Page THYME -- Spanish Thyme

Cumin Cuminum cyminum
Cumin is an essential ingredient in many Indian dishes and in such old American southwest favorites like chile con carne. Along with oregano and cloves, cumin is the third major ingredient in standard American "chili powder." It is aromatic whether used as whole seeds or ground. The plant grows to be about 12" high. We are going to plant it this year and see what happens. We'll take a photograph and put it here if all goes well.
Benefits: Cumin has been used to cure many disorders, but it is maybe best known as a digestive aid and as a boost for the immune system.
From: Iran and the Mediterranean
Note: As you can see from the date below, no photograph was taken and no plants thrived.
Text ©KO 2007 and ©GreenGardeningCookingCuring.com 2013/2018

Curry
This is one of my favorite spice mixtures having several levels of flavor that enhances everything it comes into contact with. It can be overdone though, if every food on the table tastes like curry.
Benefits: As with garlic and green tea, curry is now being touted as the ultimate cure all -- alzheimer's to cancer. And if you think that one spice is going to cure your grave ills, I have bridge to sell you right away. That being said, eating curried cauliflower or cabbage may increase the impact that each one alone has on fighting cancer.
From: India