caapeba

English

Etymology

Said by Century to be Tupian.

Noun

caapeba

1. A South American plant, Piper umbellatum (formerly Pothomorphe umbellata), with medicinal roots.
   • 1778, Colin Milne, A Botanical Dictionary, second edition:

     The pounded root of cissampelos, the caapeba of Plumier, applied externally, is said to be an antidote against the bites of venomous serpents. The plant being infused in water, quickly fills the liquor with a mucilaginous substance, which is as […]

   • 1822, James Jennings (of Huntspill), The Family Cyclopaedia, page 889, entry on "Pareira brava":

     The root of the caapeba, another species of cissampelos, is said to be an antidote against the bite of venomous serpents:

   • 1847, Robert Eglesfeld Griffith, Medical Botany; Or, Descriptions of the More Important Plants Used in Medicine: With Their History, Properties, and Mode of Administration, page 569:

     Pothomorpha peltata, the Caapeba of Brazil, is considered as a most effectual diuretic, and has been highly recommended in strangury. (Flor. Med. Antill., iv. 14.) P. umbellata, which is also known in Brazil under the name of Caapeba, is there […]

   • 1857, John Marius Wilson, The Rural Cyclopedia, Or A General Dictionary of Agriculture..., page 711:

     The roots of this species are bitter, and have diuretic and aperient properties— The caapeba species, Cissampelos caapeba, was introduced from South America about the same time as the preceding, and somewhat closely resembles it, but is […]

   • 1971, Henry Oldenburg, Correspondence, volume 8, page 242:

     Does the root of the caapeba plant (called by the Portuguese Our Lord's Herb), cut into strips, steeped for a few days in a suitable liquid in the open and drunk, so expel the matter forming stones that the chief of the Portuguese prefer no remedy to this?

   • 1983(?), Brazil, page 31:

     Another important Brazilian indigenous plant is the caapeba, or Potomorphe peltatum, used as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic medicine. In the opinion of the German researcher, Karl Friedrich Phillip von Martius, who […]