Bromelia pinguin


Bromelia pinguin is a plant species in the genus Bromelia. This species is native to Central America, Mexico, the West Indies and northern South America. It is also reportedly naturalized in Florida. It is very common in Jamaica, where it is planted as a fence around pasture lands, on account of its prickly leaves, and has historically been used as an herbal abortifacient. The plant can be stripped of its pulp, soaked in water, and beaten with a wooden mallet, and it yields a fiber whence thread is made. In Nicaragua and El Salvador it is used to make gruel.

History

Bromelia pinguin is mentioned in the diaries of Thomas Thistlewood, an 18th century slave-owner and plantation owner living in Jamaica. Thistlewood notes his use of Bromelia pinguin as a natural fence. Additionally, there is evidence that enslaved women on Thistlewood's plantations used Bromelia pinguin as an herbal abortifacient to terminate pregnancies caused by Thistlewood's sexual assaults.