Compte

People working at starch mill - Coconut Grove; source: State Archives of Florida, Florida MemoryCompte or coontie, among many other variant names, is the name for both a starch and the plant from which it can be produced. Compte plants are zamia plants, which are ubiquitous in the pinelands near the Biscayne Bay. Early settlers frequently dug up the roots and set up mills to produce the starch. For a time, this was a profitable cottage industry in the Miami region, and some people like Michael Axer operated mills as a regular business. The Expedition party visited Axer's homestead, as well as that of William Fuzzard, and described in the texts how the compte starch was produced. The starch was also known as arrowroot. The mill industry died over time because the plants grew very slowly and could not be cultivated easily.

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References in the Texts:

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For other topics referenced in the Expedition texts, please refer to the Index to Subjects and Names.
1892 Everglades Exploration Expedition : Three Digital Texts, 2015