You are on a road trip and someone comes down with earache, a rash, a sore throat or needs a little help with the daily, well, let’s just say that they need help.
And there is not a pharmacy in sight. Fear not. There is help at hand. As close as the side of the road.
South Africa has many medicinal plants – 3 000 species are used as medicine. In fact, many of the plants that surround us are used in primary health care throughout the country…
South Africa has well over 30 000 species of what science calls ‘higher plants’ (not mosses, liverworts or lichens; in other words plants with roots, seeds or flowers).
The Cape Floral Kingdom alone has almost 9 000 species and a diversity that rivals tropical rainforests in terms of richness in species.
Here are 10 wild South African plants for your first-aid kit when travelling. They form an emergency stop-gap for common gripes and ailments…
(Note: use any of these plants at your own risk).
1. ALOE FEROX
Indications: skin irritations, bruises and burns, also laxative
Description: broad, fleshy leaves with dark spines along the edges; bright red or orange flowers from May to August
Where: eastern parts of South Africa
Parts used: bitter yellow juice just below the surface of the leaf
Common use: apply leaf sap (break open a leaf and use the gel that comes from the inner flesh) to skin irritations, bruises and burns
2. BOWIEA VOLUBILIS (climbing potato)
Indications: oedema, sore eyes
Description: the plant produces greenish-white, fleshy, tuberous bulbs
Where: eastern parts of South Africa
Parts used: bulb or bulb scales
Common use: thefresh bulb has been used to treat oedema (fluid retention); rub fresh juice on the skin of a sick person, or make a decoction and apply as a lotion for sore eyes. Do NOT use internally (very poisonous!).
3. BULBINE NATALENSIS (rooiwortel)
Indications: wounds, burns, rashes, itches, ringworm, cracked lips, herpes
Description: an aloe-like plant with a rosette of green fleshy, thornless leaves (yellow flowers on long, thin stems)
Where: eastern and northern parts of SA
Parts used: fresh leaves and roots
Common use: usethe leaf sap directly on wounds, burns, rashes, itches, ringworm etc. An infusion of the roots treats vomiting, diarrhoea and urinary complaints.
4. CARPOBROTUS EDULIS (sour fig)
Indications: mouth and throat infections, digestive troubles, eczema, wounds, burns, toothache, earache and oral and vaginal thrush
Description: fleshy succulent with erect, triangular leaves and yellow or pink flowers; ripe fruits often sold at street markets in the Cape
Where: sandy areas in Western Cape and south coast to the Eastern Cape
Parts used: leaf juice or leaf pulp
Common use: useleaf juice as a gargle for mouth and throat infections; also take orally for digestive troubles. Apply the leaf pulp externally to treat eczema, wounds and burns; effective against toothache, earache and thrush.
5. COTYLEDON ORBICULATA (pig’s ear or plakkie)
Indications: corns, warts, worms, earache, toothache, boils
Description: a common succulent with thick, fleshy, green to grey leaves with a reddish margin and orange or red tubular flower on a long stalk
Where: practically all over southern Africa
Parts used: leaves or leaf juice
Common use: apply fleshy part of the leaf to corns and warts to soften and remove; you can eat a single leaf to expel intestinal, parasitic worms, and use warmed leaf juice as drops for earache and toothache; also hot poultice for boils or earache.
6. LEONOTIS LEONURUS (wild dagga)
Indications: bites and stings, boils, eczema, skin diseases, itching and muscular cramps, coughs, colds, bronchitis, headaches, asthma
Description: Distinctive for its bright orange, tubular flowers in round groups, arranged along the branch ends; leaves are distinctly ‘dagga’ looking
Where: large parts of South Africa
Parts used: leaves and stems, sometimes roots
Common use: leaves have been smoked to relieve epilepsy (they have only a mild narcotic effect); leaves and roots used in a remedy for bites and stings; apply external decoctions (crush and then boil into a tea or infusion) to treat boils, eczema, itching and muscular cramps; internally decoctions work for coughs, colds, bronchitis, headaches.
7. MENTHA LONGIFOLIA (wild mint)
Indications: coughs, colds, asthma, headaches, fevers, indigestion, flatulence, urinary tract infections
Description: a perenial herb with creeping rhizomes below ground and erect flowering stems. All parts smell intensely of mint.
Where: widely across South Africa
Parts used: leaves
Common use: infusions or decoctions of the leaves are used for coughs, colds, asthma and other respiratory ailments, fevers, indigestion, flatulence. Crushed leaves inserted in the nostrils relieve headaches. Can be used externally for wounds.
8. PELARGONIUM LURIDUM (geranium)
Indications: diarrhoea, bronchitis, colds, flu
Description: leaves vary, but usually lobed in groups of three (almost look like clover but without the breaks and much bigger) and usually with distinctive scents.
Where: over large parts of South Africa
Parts used: the roots (bright red inside)
Common use: the Nama people boil the tuber in milk, but it can also be chewed, or powdered and mixed with food. Conversely an infusion treats diarrhoea and dysentery.
9. SUTHERLANDIA FRUTESCENS (cancer bush)
Indications: stomach problems, colds, varicose veins, piles, liver problems, backache
Description: small shrub up to a metre high with densely hairy leaves that look silver; each leaf divided into leaflets. Large red flowers.
Where: West Coast and Western Cape
Parts used: leaves
Common use: use decoctions or alcoholic tinctures for stomach problems
10. ZANTEDESCHIA AETHIOPICA (arum lily or varkblom)
Indications: wounds, sores, boils, gout
Description: an evergreen herb of up to a metre with large, fleshy leaves and a thick, spongy stalk and cream-coloured flowers. Z aethiopica is the only evergreen species and does not die back
Where: most parts of South Africa
Parts used: leaves
Common use: warm afresh leaf and apply to wounds, sores and boils; also apply to parts affected by gout or rheumatism. Do not eat the plants parts as the tongue and throat swell!
Reference Source: Medicinal Plants of South Africa – Ben-Erik van Wyk, Bosch van Oudtshoorn, Nigel Gericke ~ Available at Exclusive Books.
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