Observations on plant usage in Xhosa and Zulu medicine

A Hutchings

doi:10.4102/abc.v19i2.965

Abstract

The holistic concept of Xhosa and Zulu traditional medicine and some differences from Western orthodox practice are briefly outlined. The transmission of herbal knowledge within various social groups is outlined. The background, training and some procedures followed by five of the informants are discussed. Plant characteristics that may be seen, felt, smelled or tasted are considered as possible determinants of usage. The form of plant parts accounts for some usage in the more magically orientated medicines whereas colour, texture or the production of froth may signal the presence of medicinally active components such as tannin, mucilage and saponin. The role of plants producing a milky latex is discussed. Vesicant or irritant properties are utilized in septic or inflammatory conditions. Aromatic plants are used for respiratory or digestive disorders and pungent-smelling plants are used in the treatment of catarrh and some stress-related disorders. Bitter or sour- tasting plants may be used as an aid to digestion or serve a deterrent function. Parallel usage of some related plants in African and European herbal practice indicates that appropriate usage may be widely determined by easily discerned plant characteristics. Two herbal medicinal recipes recorded by the author and a list of medicinal plants collected in Transkei are presented.

Highlights

This study is an attempt to answer the question 'How do people know which plants to use?' in traditional Xhosa and Zulu medicine
Jensen & Nielsen (1984) point out that chemistry has always been used in the classification of plants, exemplifying chemical characters by the colour, taste and smell of various parts of the plant
It would seem from parallel usage of related plants in African and European herbal practice that appropriate usage may be widely determined by discerned plant characteristics

Summary

INTRODUCTION

This study is an attempt to answer the question 'How do people know which plants to use?' in traditional Xhosa and Zulu medicine. He claimed to have been instructed by bis grandmother in dreams as to wbich plants to use He attended the first meeting at St Elizabeth's Hospital and was obviously well known by the group of healers present. In a search for the plant he knew as umavumbuka which differed from the author's description of Sarcophyte sanguinea Sparrm He was looking for a red material and eventually found, just below the surface of the ground, a very large reddish swelling on the root of an Acacia karroo Hayne tree that was neither of the two red parasites called 'Umavumbuka' by both the Zulu and Xhosa. Culpeper (1826: 168) writes of 'petty spurge' ( Euphorbiaceae) as: 'The whole plant is full of a caustic rnilk, buming and inflarning the mouth . .. a strong cathartic ... by reason of its sharp corrosive quality and ought to be used with caution'

Characteristics that may be felt

Characteristics that may be tasted

Conclusion