Botanical atlas

Wild Dagga

Leonotis leonurus

In its native South Africa, wild dagga has long held a place in Khoikhoi and Xhosa folk medicine, where the leaves and flowers were traditionally brewed or applied for coughs, headaches, fevers, and skin troubles, and the plant was even kept close as a folk remedy for snakebite in the countryside. Its Afrikaans name, dagga, ties it to cannabis, because rural communities traditionally dried and smoked the leaves as a milder, legal substitute when the real thing was scarce or forbidden. That history has followed the plant well past its home range, and today it is better known in most of the world as a dramatic garden shrub than as a household remedy. Because of its psychoactive reputation and the thin research behind it, HerbLens treats wild dagga as a plant to admire and grow rather than one to prepare and take.

In tradition.

In its native South Africa, wild dagga has long held a place in Khoikhoi and Xhosa folk medicine, where the leaves and flowers were traditionally brewed or applied for coughs, headaches, fevers, and skin troubles, and the plant was even kept close as a folk remedy for snakebite in the countryside. Its Afrikaans name, dagga, ties it to cannabis, because rural communities traditionally dried and smoked the leaves as a milder, legal substitute when the real thing was scarce or forbidden. That history has followed the plant well past its home range, and today it is better known in most of the world as a dramatic garden shrub than as a household remedy. Because of its psychoactive reputation and the thin research behind it, HerbLens treats wild dagga as a plant to admire and grow rather than one to prepare and take.

Safety.

Wild dagga is traditionally dried and smoked for mild psychoactive effects, and its legal status varies by location. Safety and dosing research is thin, so it should be avoided in pregnancy and breastfeeding and kept away from children and pets.