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Lippia alba
Also called Bush Tea, Colic Mint, Curacao Sage, Bushy Matgrass
Bushy lippia (Lippia alba) is a multi-branched aromatic shrub in the verbena family, native to the Americas and grown for its fragrant leaves and small flowers. It is a sun-loving plant that wants warmth, good drainage and infrequent watering.
Lippia alba is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family, Verbenaceae, that is native to southern Texas in the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.
In Ethiopia the plant is also known as koseret (Amharic: ኮሰረት) and used as a cooking herb, especially for preparing the spiced butter niter kibbeh.
Bushy lippia is widely cultivated as an ornamental for its aromatic foliage and beautiful flowers. The essential oil composition is unique to each plant, but may include piperitone, geranial, neral, caryophyllene, camphor, eucalyptol, limonene, carvone, germacrene, α-guaiene, β-ocimene, linalool, or myrcene. The leaves are used for flavoring foods, such as mole sauces from Oaxaca, Mexico. The plant is used medicinally for its somatic, sedative, antidepressant, and analgesic properties.
Koseret · Aztec Sweet Herb · Mexican oregano · Spanish thyme · Lippia
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lippia alba 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.
