| Stachytarpheta jamaicensis | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Verbenaceae |
| Genus: | Stachytarpheta |
| Species: | S. jamaicensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl |
|
Stachytarpheta jamaicensis Is a species of plant in the Verbenaceae family. Native throughout the Caribbean, the species is commonly known as blue porterweed or Jamaica vervain. This plant can be found on St. Croix growing along roadsides and on disturbed sites, where it is locally known as "worrywine".
The fresh leaves are consumed in bush tea as a “cooling” tonic and blood cleanser, to treat “asthma” and “ulcerated stomachs”.[1]
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." [2]