Blue Guarri

Euclea crispa

Also known as Blue Guarri, Bergguarri, Ghwarrie

At a glance

Family

Ebenaceae (the ebony and persimmon family)

Type

Evergreen large shrub or small tree

Parts used

Twigs, bark, root, wood

Size

Typically 3 to 9 meters tall, occasionally taller where it grows sheltered along forest margins

Bloom

Small, sweetly scented cream to greenish-white flowers in spring and early summer, followed by round berries that ripen from red to deep purple-black

Habitat

Rocky mountain slopes, forest margins, and scrubby ridges across southern Africa, from the Cape through the eastern escarpment and into higher ground further north

Acquisition

Grow or buy

Traditional remedies in HerbSense

Key benefits

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Traditional dental chew-stick

Source of natural dye

Hardy, drought-tough hedging

Draws birds to the garden

Traditional uses

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Long before toothbrushes arrived in southern Africa, people snapped a green twig from the Blue Guarri, chewed one end into soft bristles, and used it to clean their teeth and gums, a practice shared across several Euclea species and still remembered in rural communities today. The bark and root have traditionally been simmered to draw out a reddish-brown dye, used to color grass baskets, hides, and hair. Its dense, dark, termite-resistant wood made it a trusted choice for fence posts, digging sticks, and tool handles, so the tree earned its keep as much in the toolshed as in the medicine basket.

How to grow & use it

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Pairs well with

✦Buddleja salviifolia (False Olive)
✦Diospyros lycioides (Bluebush)
✦Warburgia salutaris (Pepper-bark Tree)

Substitutes

✦Euclea divinorum (Magic Guarri)
✦Salvadora persica (Miswak)

Choose it when

“For the hedge that shelters the birds, and the twig that once served as a toothbrush.”

Did you know?

Blue Guarri is a cousin of ebony and persimmon, and like its darker-wooded relatives it produces a hard, dense heartwood so termite-resistant that rural fence posts cut from it have been known to outlast the wire strung between them.

Safety

Blue guarri's bark and root contain naphthoquinone compounds with no established safe internal dose, so traditional use is limited to chewing the fresh twig as a chew-stick, not teas or tinctures meant to be swallowed. It's not recommended during pregnancy, breastfeeding, or for young children.