African Wildlife & Environment Issue 78

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

'Wilde Als' is one of the oldest and best known of all indigenous medicines used by African people for many centuries and much used by the early settlers, probably owing to its resemblance to European Wormwood. It grows wild in most of South Africa and is easy to grow and propagate in one’s garden. South Africa's Indigenous Wonder Cure

one must come to know the different values of this diverse plant. The medicinal uses of the Wilde Als are amazing. It is a natural disinfectant, well known for treating many ailments especially chest conditions, coughs, colds, heartburn, gout, worms in children, nose bleeds and to release phlegm amongst other things. Recently it gained much popularity due to people claiming that it could cure the coronavirus. I warn against using this plant in attempting to cure COVID-19, as it affects people differently and incorrect use of it can cause more harm than good. If you are pregnant or suffer from heart conditions or high blood pressure one should be extremely careful of taking this herb. Always consult your doctor before embarking on a home treatment. We need to be incredibly careful that we do not put our hope into one plant. It depends on how severely affected each person is by the COVID-19, and what they individually need. It will not replace a ventilator! One has to be very sensible about how we look at dealing with COVID-19 and its mutations. It is a pandemic that is unlike any other. TheWilde Als is one of those fascinating plants that has many healing elements to it. It can be taken as tea, a gargle or it can be used to steam.

Sandy Roberts

The 'Wilde Als' has a variety of names in different parts of the world, but in South Africa some call it 'Lengana' or by its Latin name Artemisia afra but it is also called 'Wilde-als', 'Mhlonyane', 'Zengana', 'Umhlonyane', and even 'stinkbossie'. This fascinating plant has been used for centuries to treat many different health conditions and has recently become a household name in the hopes that it may cure the Coronavirus. This is where

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