Mountain Buchu, Bergboegoe (Agathosma betulina): Where is it found?
  • Mountain Buchu is the most important buchu species.
  • It does not grow naturally in Cape Town, but the Khoe and San would have collected buchu as they traveled around the Western Cape.
  • The Khoe used buchu in rituals. When a new baby was born, they smeared the parents’ bodies with powdered buchu mixed with dung and sheep fat for protection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mountain Buchu, Bergboegoe (Agathosma betulina):  How do we use it?

  • Buchu is a traditional Cape medicine used to treat kidney problems, bladder infections, digestive problems, colds and ’flu. It is an antiseptic and can be used to treat wounds.
  • You can chew the leaves, drink a tea made from the leaves or take a few drops of “boegoebrandewyn”.
  • Today people also use buchu oils to make perfume and as black currant flavouring in jams, sweets and drinks.
  • The buchu industry in the Western Cape is worth about R150 million per year. Because wild plants have been over-harvested, the plant is now protected and cultivated as a crop. Nobody may pick or trade in buchu without a licence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click the links to find out more about indigenous plants used for healing and beauty:
 
Cape May (Coleonema album)
Mountain Buchu (Agathosma betulina)
Carpet Geranium (Geranium incanum)
Rose-Scented Pelargonium (Pelargonium capitatum)
Sour Fig (Carpobrotus edulis)