Ilex vomitoria Ait.
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Yaupon's scientific name, Ilex Vomitoria was chosen by William Aiton (1731–1793),
Scottish botanist, and Gardener to his Majesty, George III at the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew (1759). Aiton never travelled to America. Linnaeus had an entry for Yaupon in his work,
but did not choose the second name for this Ilex.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Aiton
http://www.kew.org/heritage/people/aiton.html
His catalogue of plants, Hortus Kewensis, was published in 1789; it records the plants cultivated at Kew, and is available here:
http://www.botanicus.org/title/b1198028x
Aiton's entries on Ilex are pages 168-170, volume 1,
here is pg 170: http://www.botanicus.org/item/31753000624095
5. Ilex Cassine, Dahoon Holly
6. Ilex vomitoria
Aiton refers to these works for Ilex vomitoria:
Philip Miller's "Gardener's Dictionary"
Leonard Plukenett's "Almagesti Botanici Mantissa"
Mark Catesby's "Natural History of Carolina Florida and the Bahama Islands."
Catesby's 1743 Natural History is available here:
http://www.rarebookroom.org/Control/catthg/index.html
Catesby describes a large annual spring Yaupon purging ceremony.
He notes the leaves are similar to the South Sea Tea from Paraguay.
Records that it is called Yopon in Virginia, and Cassine in Carolina.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Catesby
Yaupon was first cultivated in London in 1700 by Leonard Plukenet, a Westminster doctor, who named it Cassine vera Floridanorum (published in 1700). His seeds came from Carolina and were propagated in European gardens as ornamentals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Plukenet
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Jack Putz suspects Aiton was in the employ of a Ceylon Tea merchant.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100408/NEWS/100409426
More Research and References needed.
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Ilex Cassine - The Aboriginal North American Tea
Its History, Distribution, and Use among the Native North American Indians.
22pages. By E. M. Hale, MD, 1891, USDA, Division of Botany.
http://books.google.com/books/reader?id=X4uxh-Bke44C&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&source=gbs_atb_hover
http://books.google.com/books/about/Ilex_Cassine.html?id=X4uxh-Bke44C
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The Muskegee called Yaupon, Asi-Yahola, which means "Black Drink Singer;" Osceola was thusly named.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osceola
http://www.moultrienews.com/column/-01HISTORYPICDECEMBER-
this source claims he contracted scarlet fever (other sources say malaria killed him).
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/A-Seminole-Warrior-Cloaked-in-Defiance.html
http://www.somers.k12.ct.us/~pgoduti/Osceola.htm
Greene Dean (Eat the Weeds) speaks of Osceola in this article on Yaupon.
http://www.eattheweeds.com/yaupon-holly-ilex-vomitoria/
Placenames of Georgia, Essays of John H. Goff,
edited by Francis Lee Utley and Marion R. Hemperley,
University of Georgia Press, Athens, 1975.
#114, pp. 329-333 Ossabaw Island, Wassaw Island, Wassaw Sound, the Warsaw Places, and Cumberland Island, Formerly Wiso
"Ossabaw is a Guale (wally) Indian word" of the Muskogean dialect (similar to Creek). Goff says the written English word Ossabaw was originally Asiȧpi (ussy uppy) or Asiȧba (ussy ubba), meaning "yupon holly bushes place." Asi refers to the leaves of Yaupon Holly, and is pronounced "ussy." Api refers to the stems, stalks, or plants. Spanish and some early English written transcriptions for Ossabaw use "p" instead of "b." The Guale village Asapo was located on the south end of Ossabaw.
http://www.ossabawisland.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossabaw_Island
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/geography-environment/ossabaw-island
http://www.sherpaguides.com/georgia/coast/northern_coast/ossabaw_island.html
Some women were brave warriors, and were allowed to prepare Black Drink
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Ward
Footsteps of the Cherokees, Vicki Rozema p. 18
Black Drink, p 58.
The wiki article on Nancy Ward does not mention that she brewed Black Drink, but the other two references do.
Nancy Ward, Ghighau of the Cherokees
Norma Tucker
The Georgia Historical Quarterly , Vol. 53, No. 2 (June, 1969), pp. 192-200
Published by: Georgia Historical Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40579126
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Kingdom Plantae
Plants Subkingdom Tracheobionta
Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta
Seed plants Division Magnoliophyta
Flowering plants Class Magnoliopsida
Dicotyledons Subclass Rosidae
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Order Celastrales
Family Aquifoliaceae
Holly family Genus Ilex L.
Species Ilex vomitoria Aiton – yaupon
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ILVO
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Order: Sapindales (Soapberry Order)
Family: Aquifoliaceae, (Holly Family)
Genus: Ilex (1 of 3)
Species: Vomitoria
Plant Classification. Lyman Benson, Pomona, 1957
Some other websites with short articles on Yaupon Holly Drink
http://www.flpublicarchaeology.org/blog/ncrc/tag/florida-archaeology-month-2011/
http://www.springcreekgreenway.org/wildstuff4.htm