Have you ever heard of bulbinella? A bulbinella plant is an indigenous plant and quite fast growing according to Garden and Home.
The plant is filled with sap or gel and helps to relieve pain and heal sores, cracked lips, cold sores, rashes, acne and any mouth ulcers. By breaking off one piece of life, the gel can be added immediately to the area that is affected. It can even be used in shampoo as a moisturiser.
Cape Town ETCs’ editor Robyn Simpson, grew up in Durban where the plant flourishes. It was known locally as a medicine for all sorts, including bluebottle stings, bites and burns.
According to Healthy Living, this healing plant occurs naturally in the Free State, Kwazulu-Natal and in some parts of all Cape provinces. It’s described as a fleshy plant with yellow-green coloured leaves and is a rockery plant, able to tolerate drought, heat and any cold weather conditions.
Bulbinella trinervis (Katstert) which flowers from February to April. Here they are only just starting to make an appearance.
They grow on rocky, sandstone slopes in the southwestern and Eastern Cape.Posted by Fynbos Through the Year on Wednesday, 31 March 2021
But the wonders of this plant don’t end there.
This mysterious flora is an ideal first-aid remedy for children who are wild and mischievous, always seeming to have a few scrapes and knocks here and there, states Lowvelder site.
Additionally, Rastafarians use the leaves of the bulbinella to make an infusion with a cup of boiling water. The drinking remedy is used to cure any cough, cold, or arthritis.
Here are growing tips provided by Garden and Home:
The Bulbinella plant is ‘water-wise, clump-forming’ and easy to grow. It can start growing from offcuts or by splitting the plant, pushing the individual plantlets into the soil. This plant needs a lot of sun and well-drained soil and it grows rapidly when fed and composted. Its yellow and orange flower brings a sense of neatness to the plant and can also be grown in containers.
Picture: Facebook/@Fynbosthroughtheyear