Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 19:30:02 From: SCHLAUER@chemie.uni-wuerzburg.de To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1946$foo@default> Subject: Epazote history (terribly off topic)
Dear Gordon,
> What do you grow it for ?
I just like the aroma of aritasone and ascaridol (the principal
drugs from Epazote). Well, I do not smoke or inject the stuff or
anything like that (nor would I recommend anyone to try it!). I just
like to have it in my garden and fool my friends who do not know that
_Chenopodium_ (which is one of the more frequent and comparatively
"boring" "weed" genera in Europe) comprises several aromatic species.
> The answer may actually lie in European history.
> In fact, this herb is apparently a weed native to Europe and was
> later taken to Mexico. (I'm sure you know more about its history
> than me).
Not very much but generally Epazote is assumed to be of American
origin ("Mexican tea"), introduced to Europe by the Jesuits ("Jesuit
tea") who used it against worms and other diseases. There are several
related species known only from America, so I assume it is really
native there although its original range is nowadays unknown due to
widespread cultivation.
But we do have a native aromatic _Chenopodium_ species (_Ch. botrys_),
and the Australian aromatic neophyte _Ch. pumilio_ is (fortunately
enough!) quite common in Frankfurt/Main. _Ch. ambrosioides_ is able
to escape from cultivation and survive in warmer regions of Europe as
a neophyte. In Germany, it tends to dissapear after several
generations (here it behaves as an annual while it is perennial in
warmer climates: my specimen germinated from seed in 1995 and it is
still alive although it flowered every year; I grow it indoors in the
winter).
Sorry to all cp "purists". Please complain (appropriately, we have
sensitive listeners!) if you start getting annoyed by the stuff. This
is really far off topic.
Kind regards
Jan
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