Espinheira SantaMaytenus ilicifolia

Did you know?

• Espinheira is Portuguese for a thorny plant, so espinheira santa means roughly "holy thorn bush", after the small spines along its leaf edges^[8]. Another Brazilian name, espinho-de-deus, means "God's thorn"^[3].

• It was named in Flora Brasiliensis, a survey of Brazil's plants that took from 1840 to 1906 to publish^{[2, 7]}.

• In 2017 botanists moved it to a new genus, Monteverdia, so newer databases list it as Monteverdia ilicifolia^{[2, 3, 6]}.

• In the wild it grows in the shade of the forest understory, usually near rivers^[4].

• A close relative, Maytenus aquifolium, shares the name espinheira santa in Brazil, and the Ministry of Health lists the two species together^{[1, 3, 5]}.

• In 2011 the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina passed a law naming espinheira santa its official herbal symbol^[11].

Origins and history

Espinheira santa is a plant of the subtropical south rather than the Amazon rainforest^{[1, 3]}. It is an evergreen that usually grows as a bushy shrub 1 to 2 meters (3 to 6 feet) tall, or as a small tree up to about 5 meters (16 feet), and it grows slowly, scarcely reaching 1.5 meters (5 feet) in its first two years^{[3, 4]}. Its leaves are alternate, leathery and glossy, with margins that may be smooth or set with small spines. Its fruit is a red capsule that splits in two, and each seed is wrapped in a fleshy white aril^[3]. It prefers deep, moist clay soils^[4].

Its scientific story begins with Flora Brasiliensis. The German botanist Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius began this survey of Brazil's plants, and it was published between 1840 and 1906^[7]. The botanist Siegfried Reissek described espinheira santa there in 1861, publishing a name that Martius had given the plant^{[1, 2]}. In 2017 botanists reorganized the genus, and newer references now call it Monteverdia ilicifolia^{[2, 3, 6]}.

In southern Brazil, the fresh or dried leaves are steeped in freshly boiled water as a tea^{[3, 10]}, and the cooled tea is also used in compresses and baths^[3]. The wood has small uses of its own, for farm tools, light carpentry, fuel and charcoal^[4]. In 2009 Brazil's Ministry of Health placed the genus, as M. ilicifolia and M. aquifolium, on RENISUS, its national list of 71 plants of interest to the public health system^[5].

Traditional uses

Clinical studies of espinheira santa in people are still few^[9], but its traditional use in southern Brazil is rich and long standing^{[3, 5]}.

• A leaf tea

  In southern Brazil the leaves are steeped in hot water and drunk as a tea, traditionally for digestive comfort.*^{[3, 9, 10]}

• Digestive comfort

  Espinheira santa supports digestive comfort and healthy digestion.*^{[3, 9]}

• Skin care

  The cooled leaf tea has traditionally been used in compresses and baths for the skin.*^[3]

Plant compounds

Espinheira santa leaf contains naturally occurring triterpenes, including friedelin, pristimerin, celastrol, tingenone and maytenin, together with flavonoid glycosides built on quercetin and kaempferol, and condensed tannins^{[3, 10]}.