Stachytarpheta jamaicensis

Stachytarpheta jamaicensis is a species of plant in the family Verbenaceae, native throughout the Caribbean,[3] including Florida.[4] It has many common names including blue porterweed, blue snake weed, bastard vervain, Brazilian tea, Jamaica vervain,[5] light-blue snakeweed,[6] and, in St. Croix, worryvine.source? It usually is found along country roadsides, and it also grows well as a ruderal plant on disturbed terrain.

Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Verbenaceae
Genus: Stachytarpheta
Species:
S. jamaicensis
Binomial name
Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
Synonyms[2]
  • 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

A similar plant, Stachytarpheta cayennensis, which is an invasive species in Florida,[7] is sometimes mistaken for S. jamaicensis.[8]

It is unclear whether S. indica is a separate species.[9]

Medicinal uses

The fresh leaves are consumed in bush tea as a “cooling” tonic and blood cleanser, to treat “asthma” and “ulcerated stomachs”.[10]

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."[11]

References
  1. Bárrios, S.; Copeland, A. (2021). "Stachytarpheta jamaicensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T96816126A192132046. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T96816126A192132046.en. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  2. "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  3. "USDA Plants Database".
  4. [https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=703}
  5. "Stachytarpheta jamaicensis". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  6. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Stachytarpheta jamaicensis". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  7. "Florida Invasive Species Council".
  8. "Blue porterweed". 17 September 2021.
  9. www.flowersofindia.net, Indian Snakeweed
  10. Brian N. Becker, Integration Of Medicinal And Culinary Herbs In An Agroforestry Combination On St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands (PDF)
  11. Professor MacDonald Idu. "The Plant called Medicine (PDF)" (PDF).
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