[Sca-cooks] for the botanists-

[Terry Decker]

Gum arabic derives from Acacia senegal, found in Africa.  Unless it was
brought into Poitou by the Romans, I doubt you would find it there in 1154.

Mimosa pudica, which shrinks from touch, AFAIK is a modern SE Asian import.

The problem is there are thousands of species and varieties of mimosa and
acacia most of which (but not all) are found in the tropics and sub-tropics.
Determining which of these was in Poitou in 1154 is going to be a real
chore.   In addition, the fact that your sources uses the terms mimosa and
acacia does not mean that the plants were actually members of the genera,
Mimosa and Acacia.

Give me a little time and I'll check Leonard Fuch's herbal to see if it is
any help.

Bear

>
>Oh boy- I'm getting posts out of order again...
>
>Ok, after spending several hours on-line, and the best I can find is family
>Fabaceae- one of the divisions being Mimosoideae, and of those there is
>Acacia, and Mimosa pudica.
>
>So I'm trying to find out what was growing in Poitou in 1154- the
>travelogues etc refer both to acacia and to mimosa- and I'm trying to
>figure out which is which. I know acacia can be tapped for gum, and I know
>that mimosa shrinks from touch. But which lives in Poitou? Either? Both?
>when someone mentions one, which do they mean? AAAAAAAAGAHHHHH!
>
>'Lainie