Algerita, Yerba de Sangre, Sangre de Christo, Mahonia.
Berberis wilcoxii, grows as a woody shrub. It is growing here in the coolness of a sky island at about 8000ft. It's neighbors are pine and fir along with narrow leafed cottonwood.
Mahonia spp.
In the southwest in Arizona and New Mexico we have this plant growing in a wide variety of habitats. Mahonia app grows high and low elevation and takes many forms. Wherever it grows it has a reputation as a strong medicine plant. People look at it that way and respect it for it's tenacity and its ubiquitousness. It's not a secret, it's a screamer. Spending time with the plant you look beyond its expression to its inner form.
Peal back the bark on a stem and taste. It's an enlightening bitter, provocative and profound. Looking at the bark: go for that intense hotdog mustard yellow color, in the peeled roots and stems. And that Guinness stout on steroids bitterness taste.
It is Evergreen and the leaves are glossy. If you look at the leaves, you'll see that they are green and shiny. They're also pointed and prickly and if you look at the leaf pattern you'll see that they are opposite. Here below is another Mahonia, Berberis repens, growing low to the ground, short and squat, somewhat dainty and delicate in the fresh snow. Similar opposite leaf pattern.
If you're looking very quickly you may think it it is an oak. Holly-like, oak-like leaves. The pattern is different though. The leaves grow from the stem directly opposite one another. They are pinnately opposite. You can see the flowers or racemes are yellow. As you go up and down in elevation with this barberry you'll see different types of leaves sometimes thin other times more fat and round.
Peal back the bark on a stem and taste. It's an enlightening bitter, provocative and profound. Looking at the bark: go for that intense hotdog mustard yellow color, in the peeled roots and stems. And that Guinness stout on steroids bitterness taste.
It is Evergreen and the leaves are glossy. If you look at the leaves, you'll see that they are green and shiny. They're also pointed and prickly and if you look at the leaf pattern you'll see that they are opposite. Here below is another Mahonia, Berberis repens, growing low to the ground, short and squat, somewhat dainty and delicate in the fresh snow. Similar opposite leaf pattern.
The greater plant species is now Berberis formerly Mahonia. In this region where I live you can find it in the lower deserts, in the Pinion and junipers and then higher in the Pines and firs.
The plant can be used from the berries, to the leaves to the stems and branches and down to the roots. It has lived with us for a long time and is the plant that goes back-and-forth speaking to us of healing in addressing our needs. The whole plant is useful from top to bottom.
The plant is useful both externally or topically on the skin, and also inside, internally. It is a complex plants with many medicinal components and applications. In terms of plants energetics return to work tomorrow the cold bitter taste indicates a powerful effect on the digestive complex. From the first taste in the mouth you will increased salivation.
The plant energetics have to do with coolness, cooling and the taste is immediately bitter. You'll immediately notice saliva flowing and increased gastric secretions. This is characteristic of what is in herbal medicine called a bitter. So the bitter encourages digestion the movement of food and rapid transit of food through the intestines. Yet the bitter taste goes deeper than saliva in the mouth it extends all the way to the liver, the bile, and even further into the heart, and the seat of the emotions. In herbal energetics when ever you have this profound bitterness you can almost always be sure that it extends deeper to the cellular level in the way that we process nutrition and the glucose energy pathway. Recent studies have confirmed an effect similar to the pharmaceutical drug metformin. With a likewise similar effect on the red blood cell indicator test the HgA1c, showing promise for one of the great plagues of our modern society, metabolic syndrome and adult onset diabetes.
If you look at the stems, or the roots of the plant you will see a distinct hotdog mustard yellow color. If you scrape off a little bark of the stem and chew on it you'll get that intense bitter flavor which is the character of Algerita. It is common to make an alcohol tincture of the fresh plant bark and chopped roots. It is also common to combine the dried plant material including powdered leaves in oil to create a salve with beeswax. The leaves themselves can be powdered, dried and stored to be utilized later, topically directly or added to salves.
When tinctured in alcohol algerita, creates a dark red, colored liquid, also known as yerba de sangre, sangre de Christo, the blood herb, the blood of Christ.
Uses: as a cold digestive bitter and liver tonic. Used for conditions that are hot- the liver is connected to emotion, specifically with hot thinking like angry blow ups, and the tradition of using estafiate in this way relates to bilis rage and angry hot conditions. Men often rage and smash things up, punching holes in walls and things like that and the two medicines together are good in addressing men's anger. It's also important to know that when a man is angry it also means that he is caught in a stock condition. People who have been schooled to something like a psychology often call this a depression. So often you may hear someone say, "I've caught a depression", make no mistake depression is contagious and whether it's spread by a virus or bacteria I'm not sure, but I know it's spread. so if you're around a lot of people who are angry and smashing things up it could be that you might've caught their depression. Kind of like Wal-mart-itis. Mahonia is good for this and likewise estafiate. Bilis.
I advise men to steam their nuts, like a lady's bajo, but when (men) are that pissed off, they probably don't want to sit with the steam pot between their legs are too impatient for that. its more likely to use something an herb hops or anenome with estafiate or mahonia tea internally, or as a tincture. Here you can see clearly the distinctive yellow of the root mass. The same color and quality is also found in the above ground stems when peeled.
Similarly women can use estafiate, algerita and romero together for steaming their pussy in a calming bajo, for that angry energy that comes from hot stuck periods. Often times women too can catch a depression bug, and rather than smashing things up, they often smash them selves up with negative thinking and sometimes this can manifest as bad period. So ladies out there should consider steaming their pussy with algerita, romero, and yerba santa.
Estafiate with a little algerita is great for a ladies depression which is often inactive, and sad with more passive self directed destructiveness. While a man's depression is often outward destructive smashing walls or fist fights, road rage and the like. But we have female MMA with Ronda Rousey so maybe will see more women punching walls.
Finally yerba de sangre is antibacterial, you have to see that intense hotdog mustard yellow in the stems and roots. Will go further into it for salves later- stay tuned...
