Plants known as té in Spain: An ethno-pharmaco-botanical review

Abstract

Although the word té (tea) in Spanish is derived from the Chinese tscha and refers to the oriental plant Camellia sinensis, it is popularly used throughout Spain to refer to at least 70 different plant species. These are usually collected in the countryside, boiled dry or fresh, and drunk after meals. The drinking of té is a social habit that encourages conversation in a relaxed atmosphere. Tés are also commonly used as digestifs and stomachics, and in some cases as laxatives, antidiarrhoeics, and to reduce the blood pressure. They are not used as stimulants. It appears that the habit of drinking Camellia sinensis afforded the cognitive context for drinking other infusions with no specific medicinal purpose. Some té species are very common in Spain (and their use is quite extended), others are endemic, and others still are allochthonous that now live in the wild. The majority of these species belong to the families Asteraceae and Lamiaceae. The most important and widely distributed are Jasonia glutinosa, Sideritis hyssopifolia, Lithospermum officinale, Chenopodium ambrosioides and Bidens aurea. Other remarkable but more locally used tés include Cruciata glabra (only in the Pyrenees), Inula salicina and Mentha arvensis (in the Central Mountain Range of Madrid), and Potentilla caulescens (in Tarragona).

Wild food plant use in 21st century Europe: the disappearance of old traditions and the search for new cuisines involving wild edibles

“…In some cases it was also linked to casual walks in the woods, such as walking to school. As most of these activities are not common anymore, people have also abandoned the behaviours associated with them [11,15,25]. Another important activity in the acquisition and maintenance of knowledge about edible plants was herding.…”

“…This plant requires clean, clear streams in which to grow -environments that are now endangered [25]. Other negative changes in Spain are:…”

“…This can be attributed to the fact that food plants must be common to become food plants, whereas some medicinal plants can be a rare expensive produce, susceptible to extermination. The examples of overharvesting in Europe include: Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum in Campoo, Spain [25], Artemisia granatensis for beverages in Spain [23] and Polypodium vulgare in Poland [5]. In Estonia due to the danger of overharvesting, some wild edible species are taken under protection (e.g.…”

“…Moreover, in the case of Jasonia glutinosa new products are appearing and some restaurants offer ice cream made with its infusion. Siderits hyssopifilia is also used to aromatise homemade and commercial herb liqueurs, and it is even available on the Web [25]. Another interesting liqueur is patxaran/pacharán.…”

“…Poland [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8], Spain [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], Portugal [26,27], Italy [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37], Greece [38,39], France [40], Bosnia-Herzegovina [41], the whole Mediterranean area [42][43][44], Austria [45][46][47], Slovakia [48] and the Nordic countries [49,50]). …”