In botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, the contrayerva, or contrajerva, is the root

Root

In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...

 and scaly rhizome

Rhizome

In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...

 of various tropical American species of Dorstenia

Dorstenia

Dorstenia is a genus of about 105 species in the Moraceae plant family. Most species are Neotropical or Afrotropical, with a single species in India, Sri Lanka and the island of Socotra ....

in the family Moraceae

Moraceae

Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 40 genera and over 1000 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates...

(D. contrayerva and D. braziliensis), a South American plant, the aromatic root of which is sometimes used in medicine as a gentle stimulant

Stimulant

Stimulants are psychoactive drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both. Examples of these kinds of effects may include enhanced alertness, wakefulness, and locomotion, among others...

 and tonic. It was previously used as an antidote

Antidote

An antidote is a substance which can counteract a form of poisoning. The term ultimately derives from the Greek αντιδιδοναι antididonai, "given against"....

 to snake bites.

The name is used in Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

 to refer to a species of Birthwort (Aristolochia odoratissima) still believed to have antidotal properties.

The root is smaller than that of the iris

Iris (plant)

Iris is a genus of 260-300species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species...

, reddish outside and white inside, knotty, and fibrous. To be of use, it must be new, heavy, and of a dusky red color. Its odor resembles that of fig

Ficus

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...

 leaves. Its taste is aromatic, accompanied with some acrimony.

The contrayerva root was formerly considered by many writers to be one of the best anti-epidemics known. Dr. Nathaniel Hodges

Nathaniel Hodges

Nathaniel Hodges M.D. was an English physician, known for his work during the Great Plague of London and his written account Loimologia of it.-Early life:...

 (1629–1688), in his treatise of the Great Plague of London

Great Plague of London

The Great Plague was a massive outbreak of disease in the Kingdom of England that killed an estimated 100,000 people, 20% of London's population. The disease is identified as bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted through a flea vector...

 (Loimologia

Loimologia

Loimologia, or, an historical Account of the Plague in London in 1665, With precautionary Directions against the like Contagion is a treatise by Dr...

; published in 1672), had a recipe which he said was very successful, and of which this root was one of the chief ingredients.