auritum Hoja Santa, Anisillo,

• Native to Southern Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and tropical South America • • Key component of Piper auritum or Hoja Santa, meaning ‘Sacred Leaf’, has a native range from southern Mexico to northern South America. Its large heart shaped leaves are essential ingredients to many savory Mexican dishes. Typically, it is used to wrap fish or meat for cooking, but it is also an important ingredient in Verde, a green sauce from , Mexico, typically used in . At one time, it was used to flavor root beer, however it was banned by the FDA in the 1960s because it contains , which is known to cause cancer and tumors in animals. Subsequent studies indicate that naturally occurring safrole found in Hoja Santa, , , and other pose virtually no risk if consumed by humans. Despite its relative toxicity, it still is valued as a medicinal plant that treats everything from asthma to scorpion bites. Habitat and Cultivation

• Sun: Full, partial shade • Soil: Moist soil • Water: Medium Hoja Santa can grow between 4 to 6 feet in height and readily spreads by underground runners. It is typically grown for its characteristic large heart-shaped foliage. The leaves themselves can be up to a foot in size. The entire plant is aromatic and the crushed leaves give off a distinctive root beer scent. In fact, Hoja Santa was used for root beer flavoring until the 1960s. Ethnobotany Food Hoja Santa is a key in many Mexican dishes. It is a main ingredient in , a green sauce from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. It is also used in other sauces, soups, as well as tamales. Fish and other meats are wrapped in Hoja Santa leaves before baking to add flavor. Goat cheese is often wrapped with Hoja Santa as well. In Belize, the leaves are made into a tea and enjoyed as a coffee substitute. Hoja Santa is an effective stimulant as it contains essential oils that are precursors to amphetamines. Hoja Santa is almost always used fresh as the dried leaves don’t retain as much of the flavor.

Medicine Hoja Santa has a long history as a medicinal plant. Anthropologists have found documentation as early as the Colonial period; however, it has been part of ancient Mayan medicinal practices long before then. Leaves and roots were often chewed to soothe toothaches and headaches. Native people of Belize drink the tea or smoke the leaves for its stimulant properties. The tea is also used as a soak to reduce swelling from injuries. The essential oil does allow the plant to have some psychoactive properties when smoked; however, it is not recommended because of the toxic effects of safrole. Hoja Santa tea was once used as a form of birth control for women, although it is thought to cause permanent sterility. The Yucatec Maya of Quintana Roo drink a tea from the leaves for its stimulant and pain-killing properties, but also use the tea to treat asthma, bronchitis, stomach ailments, colds, and fever. Today, it is mostly used in Mexico as a cooking spice or to treat scorpion stings. Tools On the central Caribbean slope of Panama, natives of the area use Piper auritum leaves as bait to catch fish. The scent of Hoja Santa is attractive to fish and if regularly fed leaves of the plant, their flesh is said to be imbued with the plants flavor. This method of fishing is still used today. Ecology The white flower stalks produced by Piper auritum are mostly fly and beetle pollinated. Birds, bats, and rodents are mostly responsible for dispersing seed from the fruiting spike.

References Balick, M. J. (2015). Messages from the gods : a guide to the useful plants of Belize. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press. Ratsch,̈ C. (2005). The encyclopedia of psychoactive plants : ethnopharmacology and its applications. Rochester, Vt: Park Street Press. Seidemann, J. (2005). World spice plants. Berlin: Springer.