Description
Turnera diffusa, damiana, is a small, aromatic, woody shrub of the family Passifloraceae, native to the dry subtropical scrublands and rocky hillsides of southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Central America, and parts of the Caribbean and South America. It bears small, bright yellow flowers and aromatic leaves that indigenous communities of the Maya region used as a tea for calm, tonic and vitality purposes, recorded in early ethnobotanical accounts. Introduced to the European herbal market in the 19th century, damiana leaf is now traded globally and used in formulations for vitality, relaxation and mood support. Cultivated and wildcrafted across Mexico and Brazil.
