Sutherlandia frutescens 50 grams: dried herb from southern Africa
Sutherlandia frutescens is a soft-wooded shrub of half a metre to a metre tall, now classified botanically as Lessertia frutescens. It belongs to the pea family and stands out in the field: grey-green pinnate leaves with leaflets only a few millimetres long give the bush a silvery cast, and among them sit orange-red flowers of up to 35 millimetres. Flowering is followed by inflated, almost translucent pods that look like paper lanterns. Those pods gave the plant names such as balloon pea in English and blaasbossie in Afrikaans.
The species grows from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal through to the Northern and Western Cape, and further north into Namibia and Botswana. Most of what reaches the market is wild harvested, with only a handful of small plantings under cultivation. In South Africa almost everyone knows the shrub by a local name: kankerbos in Afrikaans, umnwele among Xhosa and Zulu speakers, phetola in seTswana. Those names point to how the plant was traditionally used and say nothing about what the herb does.
What you receive
The bag holds 50 grams of finely cut dried leaf and stem, grey-green in colour. Leaf and stem of this plant taste distinctly bitter, and that carries straight into an infusion. Tradition calls for pouring hot water over the herb and letting it steep for a few minutes. A little honey or a leaf of mint softens the bitterness if it is not to your taste.
Storage and good to know
Keep the bag properly sealed somewhere cool, dry and dark, which preserves colour and aroma longest. Use the herb in moderation and keep it out of reach of children. If you take medication, are pregnant or are breastfeeding, talk to your doctor first. This herb is sold as a botanical product, not as a medicine.
At Avalon Magic Plants the same category also holds ginseng, ginkgo biloba, gotu kola, ashwagandha, yerba maté, guarana and kola nut. All herbs are shipped discreetly packaged.
