MEDlCINAL PLANTS OF JAMAICA. PARTS 1 & 11.

CLIBADIUM SURINAMENSE L. Jackass Breadnut.
Said to be used as a cold remedy (Beckwith). The plant contains chlorogenic acid. (2, 27).
EMILIA SAGITTATA (Vahl) DC. Consumption Weed; Grease Bush,
Much used in the country parts as a general beverage and for coughs and colds. The whole plant is used
to make a decoction. In Africa it is used as a salad and green vegetable and in some parts as a remedy for sore
eyes. (2, 7).
ERIGERON BONARIENSIS L. Asthma Weed.
Said by Beckwith to be used with Cuscuta sp. to make tea for asthma.
ERIGERON CANADENSIS L. Canada Fleabane; Dead Weed.
Said by Beckwith to be used as tea for babies. In America it has been used as a haemostatic, for
diarrhoea and for dropsy. In Africa the Sutos employ it for skin diseases, sore throats and as a wash for sick
children. The leaves contain tannic and gallic acids and essential oil. The latter is said to contain limonene, d-aterpineol.
dipentene and, apparently, methylethylacetate. (3, 8, 26, 27).
EUPATORIUM MACROPHYLLUM L. Hemp Agrimony: ?Musk Melon; Herbe Chat (Trinidad).
Used medicinally in Trinidad to some extent, presumably in a similar manner to other Eupatorium spp.
Probably also used in Jamaica. (25).
EUPATORIUM ODORATUM L. Jack-in-the-Bush; Bitter Bush; Archangel; Christmas Rose; Hemp
Agrimony.
This is a popular plant for the preparation of a tea used as a general beverage and in the treatment of
colds. The shoots are boiled to make the tea. In the Grenadines it is similarly used for coughs and colds and is
considered very effective. For bronchitis in children it is given in milk. Sloane reports 'It is counted an
admirable vulnerary, being only beaten and applied, having cured one who was lanced through the body at the
taking of the Island.
The plant is also used as a cold remedy in Trinidad. (2, 13, 25).
EUPATORIUM TRISTE DC. Bitter Bush; Old Woman Bitter Bush; Hemp Agrimony.
E. VILLOSUM Sw. Bitter Bush; Old Woman Bitter Bush; Hemp Agrimony.
Beckwith reported the use of these species to make tea for constipation and fever and, boiled with
Vernonia arborescens (L.) Sw., to bathe a woman after childbirth. At one time these species were regarded as
efficaceous in cholera, typhus and typhoid fevers and as good cholagogues. (2).
MIKANIA SPP. Guaco or Gwaco Bush.
Guaco bush is used as a cold remedy and a decoction of the leaves is also used to bathe
the skin for itch or the fresh leaves are merely rubbed on. Several Mikania species have a
reputation in Africa and South America as antidotes for snake bites, venereal disease, ophthalmia,
rheumatism and gout and dysentery. Both Beckwith and Steggerda reported its use in Jamaica
for diarrhoea, while the former mentioned the use of a heated wad of leaves to relieve local
pain and of a decoction for chest and stomach pains. The leaves contain a resinous substance
guacin and tannins. (2, 7, 27).
PARTHENIUM HYSTEROPHORUS L. Wild Wormwood: Dog-flea Weed; Whitehead; Mugwort;
Bastard Feverfew.
Some of the old writers, including Browne, speak of the use of this herb in resolutive baths and infusions
and for treatment of wounds. Country people use it to prepare a decoction for colds and to make a bath for fleas
on dogs. The plant is said to contain a bitter glucoside. (15, 27).