A medicinal plant as a weed in disguise.
I am living back in Progreso, Yucatán now. Walking back home from a friend's place this morning I saw a Hyptis suaveolens ( in Maya : xoltéxnuk ) plant peaking out from all the brush in an overgrown lot. The essential oil of this aromatic healing plant that Young Living has trademarked as "Dorado Azul is not just "a weed from sweet-scented Ecuador". It is widely distributed around the world ( https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/110258#toDistributionMaps ). The species was first described in 1806 by French botanist Pierre-Antoine Poiteau. The Latin epithet suaveolens means “sweet scented,” referring to this species’ odour (Hyde et al., 2016). It is both edible and has many medicinal properties and has many uses in traditional medicine around the world. The seeds are mucilaginous like chia and the leaves can be used to make an infusion that tastes much like a mint tea. Medicinal properties: Roots (decoction) : emenagogue Leaves: antimicrobial, antifungal , anti-inflamatory febrifuge, respiratory stimulant & more!!! Key constituents in the essential oil:
sabinene β-pinene, ρ-cymene and α-pinene while the main sesquiterpenes are β-caryophyllene and trans-α-bergamotene
