Crazy Jamaica
Zooming in on Jamaica
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(Carry me seed)- ( Mint ) -(Penny royal) -Jamaican herbs
Carry-me-seed; Quinine Weed.(Phyllanthus Niruri)
This plant is commonly used throughout the West Indies as a remedy for fevers. It is also
sometimes used for genito-urinary infections in Jamaica. In combination with milk weed, it is said to be
good for gonorrhoea. The root and leaves have also been made into infusions as a cure for dysentery, diabetes.
jaundice, stomach-ache, as a diuretic, and in dropsical complaints. The bark contains a crystalline bitter principle and the leaves are rich in potassium salt.———————————————————————————————————-
Garden Mint: Black or Sweet mint.
The plant, introduced into the gardens of Jamaica, is much used as a medicinal herb. Tea is prepared by
infusion or decoction and is used as a general beverage and for stomach trouble. It is sometimes used with gin
or rum for stomach-ache and vomiting. These uses can be traced back to the early writers on Jamaican
medicinal plants. The essential oil contains l-carvone (about 54-66 per cent). I-limonene and phellandrine and d-pipene.——————————————————————————————————— –
Pennyroyal
The leaves are used to make tea for stomach pains. Beckwith does not mention this use but gives a
number of other uses including a rather curious ‘cure’ for a catarrhal cold in which a poultice of beaten leaves
moistened with rum is applied to a small bare patch on top of the head. ‘The water will run out of your nose and
cure the complaint’. It would also seem that pennyroyal has some reputation as an abortifacient either in conjunction with cerasee and marigold or ‘boiled with a rusty nail.