Tara's Herbs

Molle, Schinus molle, (Peruvian pepper) is also known as American pepper, Peruvian peppertree, escobilla, false pepper, molle del Peru, pepper tree, peppercorn tree, Californian pepper tree, pirul and Peruvian mastic. The word molle comes from the word mulli, Quechua for tree. It is a quick growing evergreen tree that can reach a height of 15 meters and has long, drooping branches that remind me a bit of the Mesquite trees back home in the Tucson desert. It is native to the P

The herb known as Wild Daga, Leonotis leonurus, is in the genus of Leonotis and the family of Lamiaceae or mint family. It is also known as Lion's Tail and can be confused with Klip dagga or Leonotis nepetifolia because the flower heads are similar. The noticeable difference is in the leaves. The leaves of leonurus are leathery lanceolate (long, wider in the middle and shaped like a lance) with serrated edges and the leaves of nepetfoia are cordate (heart shaped, stem attache

No exploration of Peruvian herbs and herbal medicine would be complete without looking at the abundant and aromatic plant Muña, Minthostachys mollis, also known as tipo, tipollo, poleo, Muña muña, La Muña, Arash muña, uña, Huaycho, and Andean mint. Muña is a woody shrub that grows from .8 to 1.2 m high, the stem is branched from the base and and has small leaves with white flowers gathered in short clusters at the tip. It can be found at 2,700-3,400 m and is widespread in the