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Calea ternifolia
Also called Bitter Grass, Dog Grass
Calea ternifolia is a small, bitter-tasting herb in the daisy family from Mexico and Central America, grown mainly as a traditional medicinal and ritual plant. It is most often grown in a warm, sunny spot with well-drained soil and little water.
Calea ternifolia (syn. Calea zacatechichi) is a species of flowering plant in the aster family, Asteraceae. It is native to Mexico and Central America. Its English language common names include bitter-grass, Mexican calea, and dream herb.
It is used in traditional medicine and ritual in its native range.
One study suggest that the herb may have some toxic properties towards kidneys (nephrotoxicity). This is likely due to the caleicine in the plant being metabolised into the nephrotoxic compound eugenol that can cause liver toxicity in high doses.
In Mexico the plant is used as a herbal remedy for dysentery and fever. The Zoque Popoluca people call the plant tam huñi ("bitter gum") and use it to treat diarrhea and asthma, and the Mixe people know it as poop taam ujts ("white bitter herb") and use it for stomachache and fever.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Calea ternifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
