Gouania lupuloides

Gouania lupuloides, known as chewstick, is a plant of the family Rhamnaceae. The name in Jamaica for a vine with a woody stem which grows in hedgerows in the hills. In Jamaican patois a vine is called a wis (wythie). To clean one's teeth with this plant one cuts off a portion of the vine, peels off the bark and chews the tip. The tip becomes fibrous and frothy. Chewstick tastes slightly bitter but not unpleasant. The plant is used to make a commercial toothpaste. Chewstick may also be used as an ingredient in Jamaican ginger beer.

References

• MEDlCINAL PLANTS OF JAMAICA. PARTS 1 & 11. By G. F. Asprey, M.Sc., Ph.D. (B'ham.), Professor of Botany, U.C.W.l. and Phyllis Thornton, B.Sc. (Liverpool), Botanist Vomiting Sickness Survey. Attached to Botany Department, U.C.W.l.