Witnessed by: Unani
Mexican sarsaparilla (Smilax aristolochiifolia), of the Smilacaceae family. Prickly woody climber with tendrilled leaf-stalks, heart-shaped leaves and a knotted rhizome throwing out long cord-like roots; native range: eastern Mexico, chiefly the Veracruz forests, climbing in hot lowland thicket. Globally recognized as ushba in Arabic, ushba maghribi in Urdu, zarzaparrilla in Spanish, and Mexican sarsaparilla, grey sarsaparilla, Vera Cruz sarsaparilla in English. The part used is root. Long, cord-like, greyish-brown roots furrowed lengthwise; the taste faintly sweet at first, then mucilaginous and acrid, scratching in the throat.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
MEXICAN SARSAPARILLA
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Mexican sarsaparilla
- Scientific name
- Smilax aristolochiifolia Mill.
- Family
- Smilacaceae
Form
- Part used
- root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Unani
- sweet (faintly) · acrid (a scratch in the throat)
Temperature
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- blood · skin · joints · kidneys
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Unani
- musaffi-e-dam (blood purifier), muarriq (diaphoretic), mudirr-e-baul (diuretic), mufatteh-e-sudad (deobstruent), daf-e-atishak (antisyphilitic), muhallil-e-waram (resolvent of swellings)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- hot temperaments and hot conditions; pregnancy
- Toxicity
- low toxicity; large doses may irritate the stomach and gripe
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