Oa: Bromelia (Cu)
Oabo: Calocarpum (P)
Oak: Quercus (E)
Oats: Avena (E)
Obango: Jessenia (C)
Ochi: Musa (Cu)
OCHROMA LAGOPUS Sw.: Balsa (E,S); Cotton tree (E); Ceiba de lana (C); Lana (P); Puero (P);
Tucumo (C) . Choco Indians make rafts out of 3 short poles of balsa capable of floating
a man. They also carve designs in balsa to use as prints to paint some of the more elaborate designs
on their bodies (!). Ashes from balsa are put in with the dye (Genipa) to stabilize the mixture (!).
The nuchus or medicine statues of the Cuna are usually carved of balsa (!). Some Indians (e.g., in
Peru) coat blowgun darts with balsa kapok as a balancer, and to seal the tube of the blowgun (!).
OCIMUM BASILICUM L.: Sweet basil (E); Albaca (CR,D); Albahaca (CR,CR/ROC); Albahaca
fina (P); Pisep (Cu) . The edible mucilaginous seeds, soaked in water to make a beverage,
are considered aphrodisiac, demulcent, diaphoretic, diuretic, febrifugal, and stimulant, and are used
as a cataplasm. Among the Ailigandi Cuna and Colombian curanderos, the leaves, used for
seasoning, are macerated and applied externally for headache (!). The juice of the plant is used to
treat earache.
OCIMUM sp.: Albaca (CR,D); Albahaca (CR,CR/ROC); Toronjil (P). Used in Darien as a spice
and remedy, albaca is placed on corpses during funerals. Leaves of La Nueva's albaca blanca are
used to reduced swellings. The plant, like Capsicum, is used to treat hunting dogs that have been
bitten by wild animals.
Ocobo: Tabebuia (C)
Ocote: Brosimum (CR)
Ocre: Aspidosperma (C)
Odobacri: Sterculia (P)
OENOCARPUS sp.: Bamboo palm (E); Maquenque (D). The ripe black fruits are eaten by man and
other frugivores. The hearts are also quite edible (!). Choco say that the fruits are used to make
beverages with salt and sugar.
Ogo: Cedrela (Ch)
Ogop: Cocos (Cu)
Oi: Coix (Cu)
Oil Palm: Corozo (E); Elaeis (E)
OIL PLANTS: Plants used as a source of edible or useful oils. Acrocomia, Aiphanes, Apeiba,
Attalea, Beilschmiedia, Bertholettia, Cannabis, Ceiba, Cocos, Corozo, Dialyanthera, Elaeia,
Hibiscus, Jessenia, Lecythis, Lepidium, Licania, Moringa, Papaver, Pentaclethra, Ricinus, Scheelia,
Sesamum, Simarouba, Tamarindus, Terminalia, Virola, Ximenia, Zea.
Ojito de nena: Pithecellobium (C)
Ojoche: Brosimum (S); Pseudolmedia (CR)
Ojoche macho: Batocarpus (CR); Brosimum (CR); Trophis (P)
Ojo del gato: Dichromena (P)
Ojo de poeta: Thunbergia (C)
Ojo de venado: Mucuna (S)
Okora: Cocos (Cu)
Old maid: Vinca (E)
Old woman's bitter: Citharexylum (E)
Oleander: Nerium (E)
Oleander yellow: Thevetia (E)
OLIGANTHES DISCOLOR Sch. Bip.: Cenizo, Susaca, Comejenero, Sauce, Guayacan (C)
Olivo: Befaria (C); Capparis (CR); Conomorpha (C); Myrica (C); Olea (C); Sapium (P); Simarouba
(CR,P); Thevetia (C)
Olivo de cera: Myrica (C)
Olivo macho: Sapium (P)
Olla de mico: Bertholletia (C)
Olla de mono: Apeiba (C); Eschweilera (C); Lecythis (CR,P)
Olla de zorro: Chloroleucon (C)
Ollito: Eschweilera (P)
Ollito de mono: Lecythis (C)
Olloco: Ullucus (C)
Olobre: Tabebuia (Cu)
Olocoton: Carica (N)
Oloroso: Humiria (C); Ocotea (C)
Olosapo: Couepia (CR)
Olotillo: Dicliptera (CR)
Ondequera: Caseria (C)
Onion: Allium (E)
ONOSERIS ONOSEROIDES Robinson: Hoja de Santamaria (C)
ONOSERIS PURPUREA Blake: Santa Maria (C)
Onote: Bixa (C)
Onotillo: Vismia (C)
Onoto: Bixa (C)
OPUNTIA sp.: Prickly pear (E); Tuna (S). The fruits are edible. Despined flower buds are roasted,
dried, and cooked in stews. Parched seeds are used for thickening soups. The fruits are mixed with
Acacia bark to make the beverage called tecuin in Mexico. Vegetative buds may be eaten cooked
or dried. The indigestible seeds are ground into meal by northern Indians after they have passed
through their bodies. This finds its way into one of the many snakebite remedies. Chewing on cactus
fruits and stalks can stave off dehydration in arid climes.
Oquito: Ixora (P)
Orange: Citrus (E)
ORBIGNYA CUATRECASANA Dugand: Taparo (C). Oil from the fruit is used in cooking. The fruit
itself is eaten after cooking and grinding. Imprudent eating is supposed to intoxicate.
Orchoro: Dactylis (C)
Oreganito macho: Lippia (C)
Oregano: Lippia (CR); Origanum (C)
Oregano cimarron: Lippia (CR/ROC)
Oreja: Enterolobium (C)
Oreja de burro: Cissampelos (C); Pseudelephantopus (S)
Oreja de conejo: Salmea (CA)
Oreja de coyote: Pseudelephantopus (S); Turnera (N)
Oreja de mula: Eichhornia (C); Miconia (P)
Oreja de raton: Hydrocotyle (C); Vandelia (C)
Oreja de sapo: Pseudelephantopus (S)
Orejero: Enterolobium (C)
Orejuelo: Alchemilla (C)
Orey: Campnosperma (P)
Oriera: Enterolobium (C)
Orilla de mar: Caesalpinia (C)
Orim: Campnosperma (C)
Oropel: Helichrysum (CR)
Orsul: Lippia (N)
Orozuz: Lippia (S)
Ortiga: Fleurya (P); Jatropha (S); Loasa (P); Urera (S); Wigandia (CR)
Ortiga blanca: Urera (CR)
Ortiga de montana: Wigandia (CR)
Ortiga vienticuatro: Loasa (CR)
Ortutu: Impatiens (Cu)
Orumo: Cecropia (C)
ORYZA SATIVA L.: Rice (E); Arroz (Ch,S); Oroz (Cu). In Darien, as in many torpical areas, rice
replaces other cereals as the staff of life with some ethnic groups. Among the inland Cuna and
Choco, rice is supplanted by Musa as the most important staple. With the bran intact rice is
nutritious with starches and fats, but not high enough in proteins. Rice diets should be supplemented
with legume proteins. Perhaps for this reason arroz y frijoles is a popular diet in Latin America.
Colombian Choco Indians make bollos of rice mixed with corn wrapped in Calathea. Most Darien
houses have their mano de pilon for threshing rice, the chaff going to the chickens and pigs.
Seedlings of rice are also edible. The grain is simetimes fermented to make rice beer. The grain may
be converted to starch for breadstuffs and puddings. A poultice of rice make a good application for
burns.
Osi: Ananas (Cu)
Otaheite gooseberry: Phyllanthus (E)
Otera: Psidium (C)
Oto: Xanthosoma (P)
Otoba: Dialyanthera (C); Virola (C)
Otobo: Virola (C)
Oto de lagarto: Dieffenbachia (P)
OURATEA sp.: Caidita (C) . The fruits are used for fish bait (!).
Ovina: Coix (Cu)
Oviero: Enterolobium (C)
OXALIS CORNICULATA L.: Sourgrass (E); Wood sorrel (E); Vinagrillo (S) . The leaves
are eaten raw in salads or as a potherb. The seeds serve as a famine food.
OXALIS HEDYSAROIDES H.B.K.: Sanguinaria (C). Cultivated in raised gardens in the Choco for
hemorrhage after childbirth.