Verbenaceae

Verbena Family

Aloysia

FAMILY: Verbena family (Verbenaceae) – Aloysia genus.

SPECIES: #1 whitebrush or Chihuahuan beebrush (Aloysia gratissima (Gillies & Hook.) Troncoso). #2 oreganillo, Sonoran beebrush, Wright’s aloysia, mintbush lippa, or highmass (Aloysia wrightii (A. Gray) A. Heller = Lippa wrightii A. Gray).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: (tea only): Leaves and flowers of both species listed above can be steeped into tea. The shrubs are otherwise inedible.

Oreganillo (A. wrightii) leaves and flowers can be used as flavorings for beverages, desserts, and other things. Steeping these parts in hot water produces an excellent tea. Oreganillo tea has a fruity flavor similar to lemons combined with an herbal overtone. Bitterness may develop if too many leaves are used. The tea is vibrant green and marked with a subtle aroma. Oreganillo leaves and flowers have a flavor that combines perfectly with fruit. These parts make an excellent seasoning for many items, especially desserts. Whitebrush (Aloysia gratissima) can be used in a similar way. Both of these desert shrubs bloom in response to summer rain. Gathering the leaves is easy, but gathering enough of the tiny flowers for any purpose is rather time consuming.

Oreganillo (A. wrightii) seeds are not reported to be edible, which isn’t surprising considering the flavor. Along with a few other questionable wild foods, oreganillo seeds were assessed during the fieldwork conducted for this reference. When eaten raw or toasted, the flavor suggests the “stale tar of a tobacco pipe combined with a brush of latex paint.” It’s a flavor testing the limitations of palatability. The boiled flavor is considerably better and more suggestive of food. Boiling eliminates most of the tar-like and latex-like overtones. Oddly, the seeds lack the minty-fruity flavor so prevalent in the leaves and flowers. Oreganillo seeds are brown, easy to harvest, and fairly easy to process. Seeds are packaged within calyx tubes that readily crumble and blow away as chaff. Seeds are soft enough to be eaten fresh off the shrubs and become available toward the end of October. Consumption is definitely not recommended.

IDENTIFICATION: Only 4 species of the Aloysia genus are found in the United States, all of which are aromatic shrubs that prefer hot, dry areas of the Southwest. Very few members of the verbena family are shrubs.

Description of whitebrush (Aloysia gratissima): FORM thornless shrub about 7-30 dm tall; LEAVES simple; opposite; blades oval, oblong, or obovate; margins entire; surfaces dull green and scarcely wrinkled; FLOWERS perfect, slightly irregular, ovary superior, and arranged in spikes paired in the upper leaf axils; bracts 1 per flower, lanceolate; calyces 4-lobed; corollas 2-lipped, 4-5-lobed, white or tinged with pink, purple, or blue; styles 1; stigmas 2; stamens 4; FRUITS nutlets 2; HABITAT deserts and foothills; primarily southwestern Texas and southward; blooming May to October.

Description of oreganillo (Aloysia wrightii): FORM thornless shrub about 5-20 dm tall; LEAVES simple; opposite; blades lance-ovate; margins toothed (crenate); surfaces hairy and appearing wrinkled from the impressed veins; FLOWERS perfect, slightly irregular, ovary superior, and arranged in spikes paired in the upper leaf axils; bracts 1 per flower, lanceolate; calyces 4-lobed; corollas 2-lipped, 4-5-lobed, white or tinged with pink, purple, or blue; styles 1; stigmas 2; stamens 4; FRUITS nutlets 2; HABITAT deserts, foothills, and canyons; Arizona to Texas and southward; blooming May to October.

REFERENCES: #1 whitebrush (Aloysia gratissima): leaves and flowers (tea) Tull (2013 p. 154). #2 oreganillo (Aloysia wrightii = Lippa wrightii): leaves (tea) Kane (2006 pp. 87-88) and Couplan (p. 367); flowers (tea) Kane (2006 pp. 87-88).