Photo: Bageense, CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

Sleep & Calm Digestive Health Respiratory

✦ Free preview: full page unlocked

Bushy Matgrass

Lippia alba

Also known as Bushy Matgrass, Bushy Lippia, Juanilama, Erva Cidreira, Salvia Real

At a glance

Family

Verbenaceae (the vervain family)

Type

Tender perennial shrub

Parts used

Leaves and flowering tops

Size

3 to 6 feet tall and nearly as wide, forming a rounded, bushy mound

Bloom

Small clustered flowers in lilac, white, or pale purple, appearing in flushes almost year round in warm climates

Habitat

Native to the American tropics and subtropics, from Mexico down through Central America, the Caribbean, and much of South America, often found along roadsides, riverbanks, and other sunny disturbed ground

Acquisition

Grow or buy

This plant in HerbSense

Key benefits

✦

Traditionally eases evening restlessness

Traditionally soothes an unsettled stomach

Traditionally calms coughs and colds

A bright, lemony comfort tea

Traditional uses

✦

Across the herb's tropical homeland, it goes by nearly as many names as there are kitchens that grow it, juanilama in Costa Rica, salvia in parts of Mexico, erva cidreira in Brazil, each community steeping its bushy, lemon-scented leaves into a comforting after-dinner tea. Traditionally, it has been used to help settle a nervous stomach, ease the tightness of a chest cold, and quiet a restless mind before sleep. Home gardeners have long kept a bush by the kitchen door precisely because it is so ready to hand, a few leaves crushed and dropped into hot water at the first sign of a stressful evening or an achy belly. It has traveled with cooks and healers for generations, prized less for spectacle than for its steady, everyday usefulness.

Growing guide

✦

Sun

Full sun for the fullest growth and the most fragrant oils, though it will tolerate light afternoon shade in the hottest climates.

Soil

Ordinary, well-drained garden soil suits it fine, it is not a fussy plant, but it rewards a bit of compost worked in at planting time.

Water

Regular, even moisture while establishing, then moderate watering, letting the top inch of soil dry between drinks once the roots are settled in.

Planting

Easiest started from a rooted cutting or a nursery starter, spaced about 3 feet apart to give the rounded bush room to spread. It is frost-tender and grown as an annual or container plant in cooler climates, brought indoors before the first frost.

Fresh to dried

✦

Harvest

Snip leaves and the leafy flowering tips in the morning once the dew has dried, ideally just as the first flowers are opening, when the aromatic oils are at their most concentrated.

Drying

Gather small bundles and hang them upside down in a warm, shaded, airy spot, or spread the leaves on a screen out of direct sun. They are ready when the leaves crumble easily, usually within a week or two.

Storage

Store the fully dried leaves whole rather than crumbled, tucked into an airtight jar away from light and heat, and use within about a year for the best flavor and aroma.

Best forms

Wonderful both fresh, crushed straight into a teapot, and dried for a tea that keeps well through the colder months when the bush itself has gone dormant.

Traditional preparations

✦

Featured preparation

Evening Calming Tea

A gentle, lemony infusion traditionally sipped in the evening to help unwind after a long day.

How it's made. Traditionally, a tea is made by steeping 1 teaspoon of the dried leaves (or 2 teaspoons fresh, lightly crushed) in 250 ml of just-boiled water for 8 to 10 minutes, then strained and sipped warm.

Secondary preparation

After-Meal Digestive Infusion

A warm cup traditionally taken after eating to help settle a heavy or uneasy stomach.

How it's made. Traditionally, 1 teaspoon of dried leaf is steeped in 250 ml of just-boiled water for about 8 minutes, then sipped slowly in the twenty minutes or so after a meal.

Pairs well with

✦Lemon balm
✦Chamomile
✦Peppermint

Substitutes

✦Lemon verbena
✦Lemon balm

Choose it when

“For the evening the day won't quite let go of, and a cup that smells like lemon and quiet is exactly what's needed.”

Did you know?

In Brazil this plant is called erva cidreira, the very same nickname many Brazilians use for true lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), even though the two are unrelated. Both simply smell so strongly of lemon that generations of cooks reached for the same comforting name.

Safety

Bushy Matgrass is generally safe brewed as a traditional tea, but its essential oil is far more concentrated and shouldn't be taken internally without guidance. It may add to the effect of sedatives or sleep aids, and it's best avoided during pregnancy and breastfeeding since safety data is limited.