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Cymbopogon schoenanthus, the camel grass,[2] camel's hay,[2] straw of Mecca,[3] fever grass,[4] geranium grass, or West Indian lemon grass,[4] is a herbal plant of Southern Asia and Northern Africa, with fragrant foliage.
Cymbopogon schoenanthus | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Panicoideae |
Genus: | Cymbopogon |
Species: | C. schoenanthus
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Binomial name | |
Cymbopogon schoenanthus (L.) Spreng.
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Subspecies[1] | |
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Synonyms[1] | |
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Uses
editCymbopogon schoenanthus is often made into a common herbal tea. C. schoenanthus oil (called lemongrass oil or camel grass oil) is also used as a tonic and fragrance additive in personal care and cosmetic products such as hair dye, shampoo/conditioner, moisturizer/lotion, bath oil, exfoliant/scrub, anti-aging treatment, and acne treatment. In the Timbuktu-Mali region, its herbal tea is highly used, among others, for gynecological treatments (regulating women cycle, accompanying labor and post partum, contraception) and to relieve bloating due to gas in the digestive tract.
The seventeenth-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper said about the plant:[5]
- Schoenanthus. Schoenanth, Squinanth, or Chamel's hay; hot and binding. It digests and opens the passages of the veins: surely it is as great an expeller of wind as any is.
The 18th century English botanist John Hill, in his Family Herbal, says that camel's hay was "at one time in great esteem as a medicine ... but it is now very little regarded".[6]
References
edit- ^ a b "Cymbopogon schoenanthus (L.) Spreng". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ a b Henriette's Herbal Homepage. "Cymbopogon schoenanthus". Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- ^ "Lemongrass". www.pages.fr. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ a b "Herbal substances index of Common Names" (PDF). TGA Approved Terminology for Medicines. Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ^ Culpeper, Nicholas (2007). Complete Herbal and English Physician. Applewood Books. p. 244. ISBN 978-1-55709-080-5.
- ^ Hill, John (1812). The Family Herbal. Bungay: Printed and published by C. Brightley and T. Kinnersley. pp. 55-56.
External links
edit- Kew GrassBase Species Profile
- GBIF | Cymbopogon schoenanthus (L.) Spreng.
- Dressler, S.; Schmidt, M. & Zizka, G. (2014). "Cymbopogon schoenanthus". African plants – a Photo Guide. Frankfurt/Main: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg.