Damiana

The name as signature

Turnera honours the English botanist William Turner (16th century); diffusa comes from the Latin diffundere, "to spread". The binomial already names a plant that spreads, from the Mexican highlands to the rest of the Americas and then the world. In Yucatec Maya she is mizibcoc (also written misibkook). The name damiana is sometimes linked to Saint Damian, patron saint of physicians. In Mexico she is also hierba del pastor, the shepherd's herb.

The plant as a person

In the INFUSE reading, damiana is an ardent young woman, simply at ease in her body. She is drunk in twos, smoked in company, infused for the bath, blended with cacao for sacred meetings — a plant of the threshold between the everyday and the intimate. The right words for her: at ease in her skin. Damiana teaches one to become so too.

Living lineage

The first written mention is attributed to the Jesuit missionary Juan María de Salvatierra, around 1699, who is said to have noted her use as an aphrodisiac among the peoples of northern Mexico (Rätsch). The North American eclectic physicians took her up in the late 19th century, and she was listed in the United States National Formulary from 1888 to 1947, as an aphrodisiac, nerve tonic, mild laxative and general stimulant. In Mexico she remains a plant of the rural home.

What the plant contains (descriptive)

Dozens of compounds have been identified in Turnera diffusa, among them flavonoids (apigenin above all, which binds to GABA-A receptors), phenolics (arbutin), damianin (specific to the plant, its role still unclear), an aromatic essential oil (pinenes, eucalyptol) and beta-sitosterol. Laboratory and animal studies describe an anxiolytic effect in mice, with diazepam as the comparison (Kumar & Sharma, 2005), an inhibition of the enzyme MAO-B by one isolated flavone in vitro (Chaurasiya et al., 2019), and a binding of damiana extracts to progesterone receptors in cell tests (Zava et al., 1998). These findings describe the plant's chemistry and carry no promise of effect.

The first margarita, a legend

A Baja California legend has it that the first margarita was made with damiana liqueur in place of triple sec. The liqueur is still sold in a bottle shaped like a female figure, often described as a goddess.

The love philtre & the smoking blends

The love philtre first, our house recipe: a teaspoon of leaves, a spoonful of grated ceremonial cacao, a pinch of yauhtli (Tagetes lucida), a few rose petals and a drizzle of honey. Hot water (about 85 °C), covered, twelve minutes; drink it in twos, slowly, in silence and then in conversation. Then the smoking blends: damiana makes a soft, aromatic base for blends without tobacco. Three compositions: evening unwind (50% damiana · 30% mullein · 20% wild dagga), sensual blend (40% damiana · 30% blue lotus · 20% rose petals · 10% bobinsana) and everyday blend (50% damiana · 50% mullein). And the ritual bath: a large handful of leaves in a litre of boiling water, infused for thirty minutes, then added to a warm bath.

Botany & safety

Turnera diffusa, of the Passifloraceae family (formerly Turneraceae), is a cousin of the passionflower — a small yellow-flowered shrub of northern Mexico, Texas and the Caribbean, with a scent of dried figs. A companion for set periods: courses of three weeks at most, then a pause, about three courses a year. Red lines: avoid during pregnancy, when trying to conceive and while breastfeeding (mild effect on the uterus); take care with antidepressants (MAOIs, SSRIs — MAO-B inhibition and GABA action), with diabetes (mild blood-sugar-lowering action), before surgery (stop two weeks before) and with a history of seizures (high doses); overdose beyond 10 g of fresh leaves (dizziness, paradoxical insomnia). In case of doubt: a practitioner before the plant.

Sources: Christian Rätsch, The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants · United States National Formulary (1888–1947) · Kumar & Sharma, Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2005) · Chaurasiya et al., Molecules (2019) · Zava, Dollbaum & Blen, Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (1998).