Turnera diffusa var. aphrodisiaca foliage and inflorescenceA bottle of Damiana liqueur. The shape of the bottle is modeled after that of a pregnant mother, a reference to Daminana's supposed aphrodisiac effect.
Turnera diffusa, known as damiana,[4] is a shrub native to southern Texas in the United States,[5] Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. It belongs to the family Passifloraceae.[2]
Damiana is a relatively small, woody shrub that produces small, aromatic flowers. It blossoms in early to late summer, followed by fruits that taste similar to figs. The shrub is said to have a strong spice-like odor somewhat like chamomile, due to the aromatic compounds present in the plant.[6]
Uses
Damiana is an ingredient in a traditional Mexicanliqueur, which is sometimes used in lieu of triple sec in margaritas. Mexican folklore claims that it was used in the "original" margarita. The damiana margarita is popular in the Los Cabos region of Mexico.[7][8]
Damiana was included in several 19th-century patent medicines, such as Pemberton's French Wine Coca. The leaves were omitted from that product's non-alcoholic counterpart, Coca-Cola.[9] In folklore, the plant was believed to be an aphrodisiac, hence its sometimes used binomial synonym, Turnera aphrodisiaca.
T. diffusa is a host plant for the Mexican fritillary (Euptoieta hegesia), a butterfly.[17]
Misidentification in commerce
Viable plant and seed material sold as T. diffusa from both private and commercial sources largely turns out to be misidentified Turnera ulmifolia (a.k.a. "False Damiana"), a closely related species. This widespread issue has been noted by the scientific community, and has created much confusion among both amateur and professional horticulturists alike.[18][19][20] While T. ulmifolia are similar in appearance, it's chemical constituents and ethnobotanical uses are distinctly different.[21] Mature stems of T. diffusa are woody, with small, grayed green leaves 13 to 16 mm long, 4.5 to 5.5 mm wide, obtuse at the apex, and strongly aromatic when crushed.[22]T. ulmifolia is differentiated by herbaceous stems, larger blue-green leaves that are strongly dentate with a pointed apex, and only weakly aromatic.[23][24][25] One scientific study however, demonstrated this confusion being mostly associated with horticultural commerce, and does not extend appreciably to commercial herbal products, most of which exhibit constituents that can be definitively traced to T. diffusa.[26]
^"Turnera diffusa Willd. ex Schult". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
^ abKumar, S; Madaan, R; Sharma, A (2008), "Pharmacological evaluation of Bioactive Principle of Turnera aphrodisiaca", Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 70 (6): 740–4, doi:10.4103/0250-474X.49095, PMC3040867, PMID21369434
^Szewczyk, K; Zidorn, C (2014). "Ethnobotany, phytochemistry, and bioactivity of the genus Turnera (Passifloraceae) with a focus on damiana – Turnera diffusa". Journal of Ethobotany. 152 (3): 424–443. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2014.01.019. ISSN0378-8741. PMID24468305.
^Zhao J, Dasmahapatra AK, Khan SI, Khan IA (2008). "Anti-aromatase activity of the constituents from damiana (Turnera diffusa)". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 120 (3): 387–393. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2008.09.016. PMID18948180.
^Katarzyna Szewczyka; Christian Zidorn (2014). "Ethnobotany, phytochemistry, and bioactivity of the genus Turnera (Passifloraceae) with a focus on damiana—Turnera diffusa". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 152 (3): 424–443. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2014.01.019. PMID24468305.
^Wauer, Roland H. (2004). Butterflies of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Boulder, CO: Johnson Books. p. 128. ISBN9781555663476.
