Plants known as te' in Spain: An ethno-pharmaco-botanical review

Although the word te (tea) in Spanish is derived from the Chinese tscha and refers to the oriental plant Camellia sinensis, it is popularly used throughout Spain to refer to at least 70 different plant species. These are usually collected in the countryside, boiled dry or fresh, and drunk after meals. The drinking of te is a social habit that encourages conversation in a relaxed atmosphere. Tes are also commonly used as digestifs and stomachics, and in some cases as laxatives, antidiarrhoeics, and to reduce the blood pressure. They are not used as stimulants. It appears that the habit of drinking Camellia sinensis afforded the cognitive context for drinking other infusions with no specific medicinal purpose. Some te' species are very common in Spain (and their use is quite extended), others are endemic, and others still are allochthonous that now live in the wild. The majority of these species belong to the families Asteraceae and Lamiaceae. The most important and widely distributed are Jasonia glutinosa, Sideritis hyssopifolia, Lithospermum officinale, Chenopodium ambrosioides and Bidens aurea. Other remarkable but more locally used tes include Cruciata glabra (only in the Pyrenees), Inula salicina and Mentha arvensis (in the Central Mountain Range of Madrid), and Potentilla caulescens (in Tarragona). (c) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.