Ethnobotany is the study of the relationship between the plants and people of a particular region or culture. It involves the knowledge of plant classification, cultivation and the practical applications for food, medicine, rituals and materials of traditional value to the people of a region or culture. The Curvital website contains the Ethnobotanical Data of Curaçao.
The flora of Curaçao is just as diverse as our culture. We have cultural influences from almost all continents of the world. Before the creation of supermarkets and drugstores, our ancestors took care of themselves by using what they found in forests. Back then, it was the cultural norm for people to produce their own food and make medicines and materials from wild and/or domesticated plants. Thus, foreigners who immigrated to Curaçao brought indigenous seeds and plants from their countries and introduced them to the natural environment of the island, in order to be able to take care of themselves.
Consequently, part of their culture was preserved in the natural habitat of Curaçao. Nowadays, if you observe the wilderness of Curaçao, you can identify the different plant species that were introduced a long time ago by the immigrants and thus, you can understand the influence that they have on the culture of Curaçao.