IdahoHerbalist, close your eyes; :face palm: this herb is below that dreaded line…..the equator…..the wrong side of the planet!!! :thumb: Da da da daaaaaa….

In Doc Jones’ book, The Home Grown Herbalist, on page 65 he mentions a plant from Tanzania that the locals call “goat killer” and the chimpanzee population use for the malaria pathogen. You know what I’m like….I had to find out about this plant.

It turns out, the local people population use it too with very good results. I found the name of the plant; Vernonia amygdalina, also called Mululuza, and Bitter Leaf.

Black Herbals sells the dried herb and for those who aren’t hemisphere-ist (not mentioning any names, especially of anyone with capitol I and H in their name 😛 ) the seeds can be bought from rarepalmseeds.com or sometimes from B and T world seeds.

The anticancer activity of organic extracts of V. amygdalina was first reported for human carcinoma cells of the nasopharynx 34 years ago and recent research studies have elicited antitumor activities in leukemia cells. In addition, it has been shown to inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells and shows promise for use as an agent to prevent or delay the onset of breast cancer and the herb’s use as an alternative to Tamoxifen. By comparison, V. amygdalina is more than 17 times more potent than the most previously reported potent plant crude extracts on human breast cancerous cell growth and more than 170 times more potent than the least potent of the plant extracts previously reported by others. Furthermore, extracts from V. amygdalina have also been suggested to have inhibitory effects on prostate cancer cell lines with no effect on normal human blood cells.

Vernonia amygdalina is commonly used in traditional medicine. Leaf decoctions are used to treat fever, malaria, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis and cough, as a laxative and as a fertility inducer. They are also used as a medicine for scabies, headache and stomach-ache. Root extracts are also used as treatment against malaria and gastrointestinal disorders. In Nigeria leaves are placed on a wound as a substitute for iodine. One of the most common medicinal uses of Vernonia amygdalina is as a treatment against intestinal worms including nematodes. Not only humans but also chimpanzees ingest the bitter pith of Vernonia amygdalina for the control of intestinal nematode infections. In Zimbabwe a root infusion is used to treat sexually transmitted diseases. Bark infusions are also taken to treat fever and diarrhoea, dried flowers against stomach disorders. Vernonia amygdalina is also useful as a control agent against diseases in plants. The ash from burnt branches is used to control seed-borne fungi (Curvularia, Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium spp.) thus ameliorating seed viability and germination capacity. It has also been used for brewing beer as a substitute for hop. Vernonia amygdalina is a well-known bee plant.

Plus that last site explains that the leaves are used as a common vegetable.

It makes me want to build a shaded hot house. Don’t you all get excited about some of the seriously exceptional plants on this planet? I didn’t even know this one existed till I read Doc’s book.

Doc, if the poisonous part is the outside of the stems and it’s the pith that the monkeys eat, would the pith be poisonous to goats too? It would be a great wormer, yes?