Stachytarpheta jamaicensis

Stachytarpheta jamaicensis is a species of plant in the family Verbenaceae, native throughout the Caribbean. It has many common names including blue porterweed, blue snake weed, bastard vervain, Brazilian tea, Jamaica vervain,[2] and light-blue snakeweed.[3] It is unclear whether S. indica is a separate species.[4] It is usually found along country roadsides and it grows also well as a ruderal plant on disturbed terrain. It is an invasive species in some places.[5]

Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Verbenaceae
Genus: Stachytarpheta
Species:
S. jamaicensis
Binomial name
Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
(L.) Vahl
Synonyms[1]
  • Abena jamaicensis (L.) Hitchc.
  • Stachytarpheta bogoriensis Zoll. & Moritzi
  • Stachytarpheta pilosiuscula Kunth
  • Valerianoides jamaicense (L.) Kuntze
  • Valerianoides jamaicense (L.) Medik.
  • Valerianoides jamaicensis (L.) Medik.
  • Verbena americana Mill.
  • Verbena jamaicensis L.
  • Verbena pilosiuscula (Kunth) Endl.
  • Vermicularia decurrens Moench nom. illeg.
  • Zappania jamaicensis (L.) Lam.
Parantica aglea on Stachytarpheta jamaicensis

This plant can be also found on St. Croix, where it is locally known as "worryvine".

Medicinal usage

The fresh leaves are consumed in bush tea as a “cooling” tonic and blood cleanser, to treat “asthma” and “ulcerated stomachs”.[6]

Tea brewed from this species has been shown to cause a dose-dependent "fall in [the] blood pressure" of normal rabbits. However, the tea has also been observed to cause a "mild non-dose dependent systematic toxicity" in various tissues throughout the body, "such as congestion, fatty changes, and necrosis in liver, blood vessels, kidney, lung and testis, but the brain, eyes, intestines and heart were essentially normal." [7]

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References
  1. "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  2. "Stachytarpheta jamaicensis". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  3. "Stachytarpheta jamaicensis". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  4. www.flowersofindia.net, Indian Snakeweed
  5. Stachytarpheta jamaicensis - Usambara Invasive Plants
  6. Brian N. Becker, Integration Of Medicinal And Culinary Herbs In An Agroforestry Combination On St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands (PDF)
  7. Professor MacDonald Idu. "The Plant called Medicine (PDF)" (PDF).


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