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 strongly aromatic leaves that have been used by indigenous communities of the Maya region as a tea for nervine, tonic, and aphrodisiac purposes, recorded in pre-Columbian and early Spanish colonial ethnobotanical accounts. Introduced to the European herbal market in the 19th century, damiana leaf is now traded globally and incorporated into formulations addressing sexual health, nervous tension, and mood support in multiple traditional systems. Cultivated and wildcrafted across Mexico and Brazil.