Turnera diffusa 1:1 extract: damiana in liquid form
Damiana is a shrub that reaches about two metres, carrying small leaves of one to two and a half centimetres. Those leaves are pale green, oval to lance shaped and finely toothed, with two little glands where the short stalk meets the blade. Solitary yellow flowers of eight to twelve millimetres appear in the leaf axils, five petals each, followed by small round capsules with a strongly resinous smell. The plant ranges from California and Texas through Mexico and Central America down to Bolivia, favouring arid and semi arid country in Mexico. Botanically Turnera diffusa now sits in the passionflower family, and the genus name honours the English scholar William Turner.
With damiana the leaf has always been the point. It was dried for tea or for smoking, and in Baja California it forms the base of the liqueur Guaycura. The Maya used the plant as a tonic, and by the seventeenth century damiana counted among the better known medicinal plants of northern Central America. That history also explains the old botanical name Turnera aphrodisiaca and the plant's reputation as a love herb, a reputation never demonstrated in humans, so read it as cultural history rather than a promise. The leaf holds up to roughly one per cent volatile oil, including 1,8-cineole, p-cymene, alpha and beta pinene and thymol. This extract works at a 1:1 ratio in a 10 ml bottle, so about one gram of plant material per millilitre; a stronger extract such as 2.5:1 packs more than twice as much into that same millilitre.
Dosing and use
Shake the bottle briefly and measure a few drops into a glass of water or tea, or take them under the tongue. Damiana tastes herbal and slightly bitter, which a warm tea with a little honey carries well. Start with a few drops and see how you get on before building up.
Storage and precautions
Keep the bottle cool, dry and dark with the cap closed properly, and out of reach of young children. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or on medication, talk to your doctor first. Avalon Magic Plants carries dozens of other 1:1 extracts in the same category, among them passionflower, St John's wort, chamomile, nettle and valerian. Every order leaves our warehouse discreetly packed.
