Witnessed by: Western · Unani
Sarsaparilla (Smilax ornata), of the Smilacaceae family. Prickly perennial climber; native range: Central America; carried through the Jamaica trade into Europe and the East. Globally recognized as ushba in Hindi, ushba (عشبة) in Arabic, and sarsaparilla, Jamaica sarsaparilla, ushba maghribi in English. The part used is dried root and rhizome. Long, tough, fibrous roots, acrid-sweet with a mealy centre.
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.
SARSAPARILLA
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Sarsaparilla
- Scientific name
- Smilax ornata Lem.
- Family
- Smilacaceae
Form
- Part used
- dried root and rhizome
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- sweet · acrid (with a bitter tail)
- Unani
- sweet · bitter
Temperature
Western: hot (warming, drying)
Unani: hot & dry (2nd degree)
convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses reckon it hot and dry
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- blood · skin · joints · kidneys
- Unani
- blood · skin · joints · kidneys
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- alterative, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic and antirheumatic; a blood purifier to clear chronic skin disease and rheumatism, once the chief remedy for syphilis
- Unani
- musaffi-e-khoon (blood purifier), muarriq (diaphoretic) and muhallil (resolvent); for the pox, foul skin, chronic ulcers and rheumatism
Cautions
Contraindications: large doses may irritate the gut and kidneys
Toxicity: the saponins can cause nausea and, in excess, gastrointestinal and renal irritation
Interactions
- Western
- cardiac glycosides: saponins may increase the absorption of digitalis glycosides
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