Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Acalypha integrifolia is a shrub from the Mascarene Islands. It grows wild in Mauritius and Réunion, in the Indian Ocean. Island healers used the leaves and leafy twigs, mostly as a tea.
It belongs to the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), a large group of tropical plants. Local names include bois de violon and bois de Charles. Today it is sold mainly as a dried leaf herbal tea, often in blends.
Here is the honest verdict. There are no published human trials of this plant. Long use on the islands is a reason to study it, not proof that it works or that it is safe.
This page is a guide to what is known. It is not a reason to swap a prescribed medicine for a tea.
No one has shown how this plant acts in the human body. Any mechanism below comes from the lab bench, not from patients.
Lab work on leaf extracts points to antioxidant activity. That means the extract can mop up reactive molecules in a test tube. Whether that happens in a person who drinks the tea is not known.
Cell studies of related Acalypha species report lower output of inflammation signals. These are early findings in dishes of cells. They do not show that the plant eases swelling, pain or fever in people.
Some extracts from this family slow bacteria and fungi in laboratory tests. That is a common result for plant extracts. It does not mean the tea treats an infection.
Tannins in the leaf bind proteins in the gut lining. In theory this could firm up loose stools. This idea is borrowed from other tannin-rich plants and has not been tested here.
The plant is used almost entirely as a water-based tea.
Common forms:
- Dried loose leaf for infusion - Tea bags, often mixed with other island plants - Fresh leaf, used locally where the shrub grows - Liquid extracts and tinctures, which are uncommon
You will rarely find capsules or standardised extracts. There is no agreed marker compound, so products are not matched for strength.
The plant has a long record in the folk medicine of Réunion and Mauritius. Written notes on its use go back to the colonial era and continue in island practice today.
Healers brewed the leaves for fevers, coughs and chest complaints. It was also taken for stomach upsets and loose stools. Some accounts list it as a mild water pill (diuretic) used for urinary problems.
It is one of a group of Réunion plants later recorded in formal French plant lists. That reflects documented use and interest from regulators. It does not mean a trial proved it works.
Stop the tea and see a doctor if you get a rash, swelling of the lips or face, or trouble breathing. Get urgent care for yellow skin or eyes, dark urine, or severe stomach pain.
Also see a doctor if a fever lasts more than three days, or if a cough lasts more than three weeks. Diarrhoea with blood, or that lasts beyond two days, needs medical care.
It is not approved as a medicine in the United States, the United Kingdom or the European Union. Reports place it among Réunion plants entered in French plant monograph lists, which reflects documented use rather than proven effect. Elsewhere it is sold, if at all, as a herbal tea or food supplement.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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