Economic Botany Collections

Catalogue number:

49626

Botanical classification:

APOCYNACEAE Couma utilis

Common name(s):

Geographical description:

Brazil, Amazonas, Rio Tcanna, (Tributary of Rio Negro)

Collector number:

Collection date:

Donor:

Spruce, Richard

Donation date:

15/06/1855

Dimensions (cm):

Length:

Width:

Depth:

Diameter:

73.0

29.5

1.7

Museum entry book 1847-55:

Made on Rio Icanna and made of soft tenacious wood of an apocyneous tree. Stones are chiefly bluish, fine grained granite from the Icanna, broken into fragments of convenient size. Design scratched with the point of a large nail; then with the same a hole is pricked for insertion of each stone and a blow of the nail head secures it in place. The grater thus formed is anointed with the milk of Cuma (Couma dulcis) which is a useful adhesive, not affected by the juice of mandiocca or moisture. I have seen graters which were decayed and almost worn through at the back while not a tooth had fallen out. Iccana graters are in great request throughout the Rio Negro, Amazon and Orinoco.

Additional notes:

Chopped pieces of cassava are grated on the Mandiocca grater. It is decorated with designs relating information about the particular ethnic group and depicting myths and legends of manioc production. These patterns and pictures give aesthetic value to an important practical object. Cassava is an important staple for much of the world and was cultivated in the Amazon basin as early as 2000 BC. It is poisonous and pieces of cassava root are grated and often processed in other ways in order to remove toxins.