This morning I woke from a direct communication with a plant, and immediately sat down with Medicinal Plants of Southern Africa to clarify.
I knew it was to be found in grasslands and that the name seemed like pantasilia.
But you know I'm still a slightly fuzzy receiver for the plant community.
There she was -Pentanisia Prunelloides.
This lovely herb of the pale purple five-pointed star has long been known by the Zulu and Afrikaner as a remedy for heartburn. The Zulu name icimamlilo mean 'putting out the fire'.
But there's more.
Root and leaf extracts have been found to have both antibacterial and antiviral properties .
How interesting -- I first saw this plant on the Athi plains (grasslands) of Kenya and it is very pretty in flower, purple and mauve.
ReplyDeletePutting out fires too -- the leaves and the tuberous root are used. The roots of most grasslands species are very high in alkaloids.
xxMary