Description
Licorice weed from its scientific name Scoparia dulcis is a herbaceous plant of the scrofulariaceae family.
It is native to tropical America and is found today in all tropical countries.
Licorice weed is also balai savane, herbe balai, petit balai, thé savane in French or even balé dou, balyé dou, balyé savann, ti balé or zèb balé in Creole. In the Caribbean English-speaking islands, it is called wild broomweed or sweet broom. In the Spanish islands it is escoba dulce, escobilla or escobilla amarga.
Licorice weed is planted mainly for medicinal purposes in Creole gardens. It is an erect herbaceous plant lignified at the base that can reach 1 meter in height. It has ribbed, glabrous branches (without hairs or thorns), with opposite or whorled leaves and crenate at the top.
The small axillary flowers are usually white. The fruit is a spherical capsule containing numerous small seeds.
Therapeutic virtues
Licorice weed is a plant whose medicinal properties have been recognized for several centuries and is therefore widely used in folk medicine in tropical countries. Indeed, Caribbean women used it as a purgative herbal tea after childbirth and as a bath to wash children.
In the 18th century, the sweet broom was one of the most widely used plants in the West Indies as an appetizer, wound remedy and cough suppressant. Nursing women made a decoction of the aerial parts of the leaves to promote milk production. A decoction of the root was used to alleviate excessive flow during menstruation.
Considered refreshing, the soft broom is used internally against inflammation and externally on rashes.
The bitter leaves are used in decoction in febrile affections, gas, wounds, liver attacks, cough, diarrhea and colic in children.
The whole plant macerated in water is given as a liquid medicine against dental pain, mouth ulcers and sore throat.
It is also used as a plaster on sprains.
In Trinidad the leaves are used against fleas and ticks in domestic animals. It is also famous for being antidiabetic in this same island. Indeed, we denote the presence of amelline with antidiabetic properties in the fresh plant.
In West Africa, it is also prized for its therapeutic virtues mentioned above.
How to grow it
Licorice weed is a uniquely tropical plant that grows spontaneously along paths, in wooded areas, wastelands or savannahs in low altitude regions (0 to 600 meters).
It is propagated by stem cuttings and blooms almost all year round.
